Jaina's Trip
by amthyst-fire
Summary: When three and a half year old Jaina Solo decides she doesn't want to do what she's told, what will happen to her when she accidentally flow walks into the past?
1. Chapter 1

**This story is inspired by a short one by JediCooper555 called 'Timewarp Solo,' as well as the idea that I've had bouncing around in my head that when the twins were taken from Anoth to Coruscant when they were two-and-a-half that it really did a number on them (I personally think that it was the start of Jacen's trip to the dark side) I've altered things a little, making them a year older (Mostly so that I can write Jaina's dialogue in complete sentances) and having Han there. I may or may not get into an explaination of how/why that particular change came about. Anywho, enjoy. This being my first attempt at writing Jaya, Jace, Anakin Solo and many of the EU characters, I hope you can be forgiving.**

* * *

Jaina watched as the Force Ghost of her grandfather talked to her two brothers. _You love me best, right, __Granda?_

She felt the distinct impression that he was ruffling her hair. _Yes, Jaya, I love you. You will be a great Jedi someday, better than I was._

He melted into the Force again, which made her sad. It was always a fun and exciting day when Granda came to visit. She watched as there were flickers of something behind her brothers. It was Old Jace. She knew somehow that it was her brother, watching the past. He always felt really sad when she felt him watching them. She carefully didn't look at the flickering image of her brother, but went and sat down with Jace and Anakin, and they were playing with blocks, so she picked one up to add to the stack. Aunt Winter came into the room, and she looked up through the weird image of her brother from the future and smiled. "Auntie Winter!" she said, pronouncing the words carefully. She had of late been working very hard to make sure that the 'R's came out correctly.

"Hi, Jaya. Are you three ready for lunch?"

"Yes," they chorused.

"Good, let's go into the kitchen," Winter said. She was sad, the way Old Jace was.

"What's wong, Auntie?" Jaina asked, sensing the sadness and turmoil inside Winter.

She smiled, but that was sad, too. "Your Mom and Dad are here. You aren't safe here anymore, so you're going somewhere else, and I'm not going to be going with you. I have some other things that I need to be doing."

"But how come you're not coming with us?" she asked, horrified.

"Well, I don't want to leave you kids, but it's really time that you were back with your parents. It will be ok, and I'll be around."

She was afraid, terribly afraid for the first time in her life. "I don't want you to leave, Auntie Win-win," she said, nearly in tears now.

Winter picked Jaina up, hugging her, "It'll be alright, Jaya. You'll be settled down in no time. Now we have lunch to eat, then your parents will be here."

Jaina cried into Winter's shoulder as she was carried into the kitchen, and her brothers walked along beside Winter. Winter sat her on the counter, and dried her tears. "I don't want to leave, Auntie."

"I don't want you to have to leave either, Jaya, but sometimes things happen that are beyond our control. We will always remember our special time here now, won't we?" she said, and Jaina sniffed, and nodded. "Good girl. You want some lunch now?"

Jaina looked up and nodded, her tummy suddenly rumbly. Winter set her down on the floor, and she walked over to her chair and climbed up into it. Winter set a sandwich that she'd cut into small squares in front of Jaina, and she ate her lunch in silence with her two little brothers.

Their parents walked in as she was finishing the last sandwich square. "Mom, Dad," Jacen yelled as he saw them.

"Mama," Anakin agreed, and the two of them headed off to greet their parents. Jaina, on the other hand, was not so happy about the situation. She watched Anakin waddle over to their parents on his wobbly legs. "Jaya, don't you want to go see your parents?" Winter asked her.

"No, no, no," she screamed, tears running down her face, "Don't want to leave. Don't want to go. She's not my real Mommy," she said to Winter, and ran out of the room.

She didn't want to leave with her parents. She wanted to live with Winter forever. She wanted to live with someone who would love her forever and never leave and never make her leave. She thought suddenly of earlier that afternoon, when Granda had visited them. He loved her best. She was his favorite. If Jace could see what was going on in the past, surely she could do the same thing, if she tried hard enough. She curled herself into a ball, squeezing her eyes tight as she concentrated on living with Granda.

She started hearing mechanical sounds, and someone breathing very heavily. Her eyes popped open as she felt the floor underneath her start to hum. She looked up and up and up some more as she encountered a very, very tall man in a suit of all black armor. She felt out with the Force, and realized who it was, and she grinned up at him. "Granda, Granda, I did it!"

He was quite shocked at her appearance. "Excuse me?"

"Granda, it's Jaya, don't you remember me?"

"Jaya," he said, repeating her name. "Why would I have reason to know you at all, child?"

She started to cry again then. "You promised, Granda, you said you loved me best. You love me more than Jace and Anakin. You promised."

He considered her stoically. "When did I promise this to you?"

"This morning. You told me I was going to be the best Jedi in the galaxy, and you love me best."

"I said that?" he asked her incredulously.

"Yes, so I came to live with you."

"Why?"

"Because you love me more than Mommy and Daddy and Aunt Winter," she said, carefully pronouncing her 'R's again.

"I somehow doubt that."

"But you do," she insisted, "Aunt Winter is making me and Jace and Anakin go away with Mommy and Daddy."

"Who are your Mommy and Daddy?" he asked her pointedly.

"I don't know. I don't remember them much, just a little. Aunt Winter always took care of us, and now she's leaving."

"Are you afraid of living with your parents?"

She nodded carefully. "I'm scared ,Granda."

"What does it mean to you when you call me 'Granda'?" he asked.

"You're Mommy's Daddy. She doesn't like you, but Unca says it's ok to talk to you."

"I am your mother's father?" he asked incredulously.

"I think so," she said, concentrating again. "That's how Unca 'splained it to us. He sees us more than Mommy and Daddy do," he considered her for a while as she hugged his leg. "You're going to let me stay, right, Granda?"

"You may stay until I can find something more suitable to do with you. A military vessel is no place for a child of your age. How old are you, anyway?"

"I'm three-and-a-half," she informed him proudly. She felt relieved as he picked her up, and she snuggled into the crook of his arm, and fell asleep for her afternoon nap.

* * *

Vader was walking along one of the many hallways in the _Devastator_ when he felt a stirring in the Force. More than that, he started to see something happening directly ahead of him.

A small ball coalesced into a human child, and when the Force quieted, she, for there was no doubt in his mind that the child was a girl. "Granda, Granda, I did it!" she told him jubilantly.

A thousand emotions were running through him at that moment. "Excuse me?" was all that he could convince his voice to say.

"Granda, it's Jaya, don't you remember me?" she said, and the way that she said it made him think that he was supposed to.

"Jaya," he said, the name rolling off his tongue easily, and committing itself to his memory all too easily. "Why would I have reason to know you at all, child?"

The question was apparently too much for the little girl, as she started to cry. "You promised, Granda," she wailed, "You said you loved me best. You love me more than Jace and Anakin. You promised," she insisted again. He had no idea who Jace and Anakin were, but he was certain now that she was indeed who she claimed to be: his granddaughter. Only his child would have the desire and knowledge to name one of their children Anakin.

"When did I promise this to you?" he asked her.

"This morning. You told me I was going to be the best Jedi in the galaxy, and that you love me best," she said authoritatively, and maybe even defiantly.

"I said that?" he asked.

"Yes, so I came to live with you."

"Why?" he asked, totally baffled at _why_ she would choose him over her parents, let alone _how._

"Because you love me more than Mommy and Daddy and Aunt Winter," she explained as though the reason should be obvious.

"I somehow doubt that," he said, but he felt a tiny flame of warmth grow inside his heart for her already, and he'd barely known her for ten minutes.

"But you do. Aunt Winter is making me and Jace and Anakin go away with Mommy and Daddy," she said, and he wondered why she seemed to think of living with her parents as a negative thing.

"Who are your Mommy and Daddy?" he asked, wondering if he knew his child, the one who had cared enough about him to name a son with his name.

"I don't know. I don't remember them much, just a little. Aunt Winter always took care of us, and now she's leaving," Jaya said, tears threatening to start again.

Compassion swelled through him suddenly, like a dam breaking. "Are you afraid of living with your parents?"

She nodded, and then told him, "I'm scared, Granda."

"What does it mean to you when you call me 'Granda'?" he asked her, wondering if she would be able to explain to him her relationship to him.

The prospect of being able to explain something to an adult seemed enough to distract her from her tears. "You're Mommy's Daddy. She doesn't like you but Unca 'splained it to us. He sees us more than Mommy and Daddy do," she told him, proud that she had remembered it. _So, it is your mother that is my child. _"You're going to let me stay, right, Granda?"

He considered her question. It would be very difficult to have her on board the _Devastator,_ but more difficult to leave her somewhere else. "You may stay until I can find something more suitable to do with you. A military vessel is no place for a child of your age. How old are you, anyway?" he asked, knowing that any child he had would be…nineteen. It took him a moment to reconcile the date of his encasement to the birth of his daughter.

"I'm three-and-a-half," she informed him proudly. He picked her up, wondering who had been taking care of his daughter, if she had been allowed to get pregnant at fifteen. He headed for his quarters with Jaya instead of to the Bridge as he had originally intended. Some things that Jaya had said started to stick out in his head. She had told him _he_ had said that he loved her best. And she seemed under the impression that he should know who she was. _Is it possible that she brought herself into the past? That I did really know her? That I can find my daughter, and convince her that what's happened is a big mistake? That I can truly be the grandfather that she thinks I am?_

He arrived at the door to his quarters, and went inside. He had seen no one on his trip back, not unusual, but something he was grateful for anyway. He didn't feel like he wanted to leave Jaya alone, so he sat down on the couch, still cradling her in his arms, thinking about what her presence meant for him, and for the rest of his family. He fell asleep still cradling her, and every second in her presence cemented more firmly her place in his heart.


	2. Chapter 2

Here is another (small) installment to this story. I must think carefully as to how to integrate this with the cannon world, and so it may be a day or two before I get that done.

* * *

Vader watched over Jaina as he worked through some of the reports that had gotten backlogged over the two weeks since she had arrived on the _Devastator_. He had researched child care; when she had first arrived he was at a complete loss as to what to do with her. It had been a struggle for him to not give in to her every demand, but once he'd started setting rules, she actually proved to be a quite obedient child.

He glanced over at her again. She was sleeping; it seemed that at her age, a nap in the morning and one in the afternoon were required to fuel her seemingly endless supply of energy. He wondered again about some of the things she'd told him about her life since she had arrived in his presence.

_Mommy and Daddy are too busy for us. _

_Unca__ Luke is Mommy's brother. They are like me and __Jace__, but they don't have a little brother like us. _

_Mommy helps with the new government, I think._

_Mon __Mofma__ is the Chief of State. I think Mommy is going to do that next. I think she just got elected? That's what Aunt Winter said. _

_Unca__ Luke is learning the Force from Ben and you, but mostly on his own. __I think he spent a long time with Master Yoda a long time ago._

_Daddy doesn't understand the Force, but he loves us anyway. _

_Unca__ Luke is trying to teach Mommy the Force, but she's too busy for him, too. _

The more things she told him, the more he was convinced that she came from well into the future. He had finally finished the first week's backlog that day, and he was waiting for the ship to catch the Rebels who had been evading the Empire for weeks.

He had also started to research the people Jaina spoke of. Mon Mothma was Senator of Chandrila, and had been as long as he could remember. He remembered her being a good friend of Padmé's as was Bail Organa. Remembering the days before the inception of the Empire in the light of Jaina's words made him realize something: The Delegation of 2000 was something Padmé would have been a part of, which meant that Mon Mothma and Bail Organa would have also probably been a part of it. His Angel would have been a part of the Rebellion, if she had been given a choice in the matter. She had always been his compass, and if he listened to her, he never went wrong. Was she talking to him from beyond this life?

His comm went off. "Yes," he answered, rather irritated at having been interrupted from his reverie.

"We have entered the Tatoo System, and are continuing pursuit of the Rebel ship," the young officer informed him.

"Capture them. I wish to know what they know."

"As you wish, My Lord," he answered, and the comm went blank. He glanced again at Jaina, who was waking up sleepily.

"Mommy?" she asked, looking around.

"Your mother is not here, young one. Why are you asking about her now?"

"I feel her, Granda. She's around somewhere. And she's _mad."_

"Really?" he asked, amused slightly by what she was saying, but he then realized that the most likely place for his daughter to be, the only logical place for his daughter to be, was on the Rebel ship that they were pursuing.

"Really," Jaina informed him. "She's mad at you, madder than she gets at Daddy."

"Well, we will have to see what we can do to make her not mad at me."

Jaina considered that. "I don't think it will work. She doesn't like you, and it makes her stubborn when Daddy tries that."

"That's ok. I think I can be just as stubborn as she is. She inherited it from me, after all."

"What about Unca Luke? He's not like Mommy. He's more quieter."

"I really don't know. Maybe he inherited your grandmother's temperament."

"Gramma?"

"Yes. A long time ago, I was married to a beautiful woman, named Padmé Naberrie. She is your mother's and Luke's mother."

"Mommy and Unca Luke want to know more about her. I remember them talking about it when Anakin was born."

"How old is Anakin?"

"Two-and-a-half, I think."

"And you remember what happened then?"

"It was the last time that I really got to spend any time with my parents," she said sadly.

"So do you miss your parents?" he asked her.

"No. They don't love me the way that you love me," she told him. "You are busy, but you still want me to be around. I'm not in the way."

"Jaina, I'm sure that your parents don't mean that."

"If they didn't mean it, why did they say it? Why did they send me and Jace and Anakin away?"

"I don't know, baby, but let's see what we can do about finding out where your Mom has gotten off to, eh?"

She grinned, the prospect of the implied game washing away her sadness at the way that she had been treated thus far in her life. "Yeah, let's go, Granda," she said, and she ran over to the door, waiting for him to open it.


	3. Chapter 3

Jaina went to the Bridge with Vader. No one had yet questioned the Dark Lord on her presence anywhere. He didn't quite know how long that good fortune would last; considering his typically violent nature, he imagined it would be quite some time before anyone dared approach him about the appropriateness of having a pre-school age child on a military vessel.

A young lieutenant came up to him as he entered the Bridge—Piett—the man's name came quickly, and Vader knew him to be a good man, a man of action. "My Lord, the Rebel vessel has been incapacitated, and we are preparing a boarding party, but before the end of the battle, they released an escape pod. The object was unmanned, but it is possible that they hid the plans for the Death Star on board.

Vader considered what to do for a moment while Jaina busied herself hiding in the folds of his cloak. She had been fascinated by it from the first day she'd been on board the _Devastator_—however she had actually accomplished that. "Send Stormtroopers to investigate—but if they find anything at all, I wish to be notified before they proceed."

"Yes, My Lord."

_Where are we?_ Jaina asked him telepathically. She has shown quite a remarkable ability in that area since she had been with him.

_Tatooine__ I was raised here. My mother died here._

_I'm sorry she died, __Granda._

_I'm sorry she died, too._

_Is that why you don't like it here, __Granda._

_Yes, Jaya._

_Unca__ Luke doesn't like it here much either._

_There isn't much to like about __Tatooine._

_He said __Unca__ Owen and Aunt __Beru__ died here._

_When was that?_

_Before he left to go save Mommy.__ I don't quite remember. It was a long time ago that he told me that story. _

Vader thought for a while about what she was telling him. He had never really considered his step-brother and his wife to be family. But someone had. His mother had.

* * *

Leia woke, her body stiff and achy from the stun blast that had knocked her unconscious. She realized that she was lying on her side, and she opened one eye, and found that she was not in a prison cell, as she would have expected. She took in her surroundings; she was in a smaller cabin, decorated in darker colors: sapphire and midnight blue, emerald and hunter green, maroon, ruby, and a color she would have called silver, or maybe it was something darker, but it blended well into the walls. The bunk she was on was larger than standard, and the covers matched the rest of the decorations. On top of the covers, for she was underneath them, was a small girl. She was curled up into Leia's chest. Leia moved slightly away from the child, and that was when she noticed that there had been a sound all along which should have signaled the terrible danger she was in.

"Please don't wake Jaina. She's only just gotten to sleep."

Leia looked down again at the little girl. "Shouldn't I be in a prison cell where that wouldn't be an issue?"

"Perhaps," he agreed as he moved into her line of sight, "But Jaina wouldn't have stood for it. She is a lot like you were at her age, I imagine."

"Why do you say that?"

She could have sworn she heard him sigh, then he said, "Jaina appeared on this ship several weeks ago. From what I have gathered, she is from the future."

"How far in the future?"

"I have been unable to determine that with any degree of certainty."

"How can you be so sure she is from the future, and isn't simply trying to trick you?" Leia asked, despite how ridiculous it sounded even to herself.

"She is your daughter, just as you are mine. The Force will tell you that these things are true."

Stunned by the revelation, Leia could not deny the truth of his words. In fact, she felt their truth resound to the core of her being.

"There is one other way that Jaina has told me that she is like you. She has a twin brother, just as you do."


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: This chapter shows more what _hasn't_ changed than what has. Ah, well. It always takes me longer to edit script than to write, thus the delay in getting this out there. Now, to think on the next discussion...**

**Thank you everyone who's been reviewing. **

* * *

Leia was not happy with the turn of events. Darth Vader, one of the most evil people in the entire galaxy, had just declared himself her father. What was worse was that she believed him. "Why should I believe that you are my father?"

"Well, a simple genetic test would tell you, but the Force is strong enough with you, Leia, that you should simply be able to tell."

The fact that he was right didn't improve her mood. "I have a brother?" she queried him, hoping the abrupt change of subject might throw him off a bit.

"Yes. His name is Luke. I believe he will join us at some point in the near future in an attempt to rescue you."

"From you?"

"Unless you plan on getting taken prisoner by the Black Sun or something, I imagine so."

She shuddered. The Black Sun was a thousand times worse to its prisoners than the Empire. "I think not."

"You sent an escape pod down to the surface of Tatooine."

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"As you wish," he said, and was about to say something else, when his commlink went off. "Yes?"

"Lord Vader," a tinny male voice said, "The Stormtroopers report that the escape pod has droid tracks leading away from it into the desert. They await your instructions."

"The droids are of no consequence. The Princess has been cooperative in telling me the location of the Death Star Plans."

"Yes, My Lord. Shall I have them return to the _Devastator?"_

"Yes. We are scheduled to dock with the Death Star in twelve hours. I would rather not deal with Tarkin any more than necessary."

"We should have plenty of time, sir. Piett out."

Vader returned his attention to Leia, "The plans are with the droids, aren't they?"

"I am not going to tell you," she said defiantly.

"Well, it seems that this would be the method by which Luke would most easily get involved with outside events. Tatooine is not the best place to keep current with galactic events."

"How would you know?"

"I was raised there."

"The high and mighty Darth Vader was raised in the Outer Rim?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes. I was a slave until I was nine. I realized two weeks ago that I gave myself willingly into slavery again when I was twenty-three. I will not be a slave any longer, and I need your help to accomplish that. Yours and Luke's."

"I want to help you, but this is all so sudden.…"

She got the impression that if she had seen his face, there would have been a lopsided grin on it. "I've never been one to plan well, but I make it through alright. I've always had other people around me who have been better planners than I am. It's one thing I miss about …"

"You miss about what?" she asked, her curiosity piqued.

"About someone I used to know. He's probably dead," he said pessimistically.

"Who is it?" she asked again.

"An old Jedi Master, the one who trained me," he said, "I have begun to think that he was always right, I was just too blinded by my own arrogance to see that."

"And his name?"

"Obi-Wan Kenobi," Vader said after a long pause.

Leia was shocked, very shocked. She couldn't think of a thing to say in response to that.

"Do you know something about him?"

It took her another few moments to compose herself. "He lives on Tatooine."

"That was your reason for coming here, then?"

She nodded.

"So, Luke has been living with Owen and Beru, and Obi-Wan has been watching over him, and probably training him in the Force. And you sent your droids down to the surface, with a message for Obi-Wan, to get the plans for the Death Star, which you placed within these droids, to somewhere that the Rebellion could use them. What droids did you send on this mission?"

Shocked at how easily he'd put everything together, she answered, "C-3P0 and R2-D2."

"And why in the world would you trust the pile of junk that I built when I was eight to do any such thing? Artoo I can understand, but Threepio? Please tell me you had him reprogrammed or something."

"I think he had his memory wiped about the time I was born, but I don't think anyone reprogrammed him."

"Well, that's a start."

"_You_ built Threepio?"

"Well, yes. That is how your mother came to have him, and I suppose that when she died, she had both Artoo and Threepio with her. Bail must have taken them to give to you; Obi-Wan would have had no use for them. He never really got on well with Artoo."

"And now they are on their way to try to get him," she said, sounding defeated.

"Well, Obi-Wan was never unkind to Artoo, he just didn't understand how I could befriend a machine. He said to me once that he thought I was part machine."

"What did you say to that?"

"I said, 'thank you, master,' and he told me that it wasn't a compliment."

"Why in the world would he tell you something like that?"

"I think he was telling me that I was spending too much time in the company of droids and other machines. When I was your age, if I wasn't busy with one of the countless demands on my time, I was up to my ears in something mechanical. I'm not sure I've ever slept much, but especially not when I was nineteen."

"Why not?"

"Oh, among other things, that was when I married your mother. The Clone Wars started then as well; I was very busy at nineteen."

Vader's comm went off again. "Sir, the Stormtroopers are back on board. We are prepared to depart, on your command."

"Go ahead, Lieutenant. Inform the Death Star of our ETA."

"Yes, My Lord. Is there anything else?"

"No, that will be all."

"Yes, sir."

He returned the object to a pocket on his belt, and said, "You should sleep now as well. I have duties to attend. You will be allowed anywhere that Jaya is. Once we have docked with the Death Star, the ship will be emptied. You will be allowed to visit the other parts of the ship as long as you don't get yourself into trouble. You will not be allowed to make contact with anyone off the ship, but I don't see that as a problem for you, do you?"

The restrictions were much better than she thought she would be allowed to get away with, and much better than she had any right to expect. He did seem quite willing to allow her leaway. She didn't know if it would incite the violence that he was known for if she tried to do something less than honest with what he was giving her. "I can do that, but for how long?"

"Not long. I expect two days at the most."

* * *

Luke was in his landspeeder as he chased down the droid that Owen had purchased. The R2 unit was going to be a pain if nothing was done about it. He felt the sudden urge to look up, and found that the ships he had watched engaged in battle no longer winked in the sky. They were gone. Some part of him, for reasons he couldn't yet fathom, was sad.

"Old Ben Kenobi lives out in this direction somewhere, but I don't see how that R2 unit could have come this far. We must have missed him. Uncle Owen isn't going to take this very well," he told Threepio.

"Sir, would it help if you told him it was my fault?" the droid asked him.

"Sure," Luke said, brightening at the prospect of being able to get out of trouble, "He needs you. He'd probably only deactivate you for a day or so."

"Deactivate! Well, on the other hand if you hadn't removed his restraining bolt…"

"Wait, there's something dead ahead on the scanner. It looks like our droid…hit the accelerator," he told Threepio, pointing in the direction that he wanted to go in. It wasn't long before the two of them caught up with the rogue R2 unit.

Luke jumped out to stop the small droid. "Hey, whoa, just where do you think you're going?" he asked Artoo, who beeped a muted response.

Threepio laid into him then, "Master Luke here is your rightful owner. We'll have no more of this Obi-Wan Kenobi jibberish...and don't talk to me about your mission, either. You're fortunate he doesn't blast you into a million pieces right here."

"Well, come on," Luke said, heading back to the speeder, "It's getting late. I only hope we can get back before Uncle Owen really blows up."

"If you don't mind my saying so, sir, I think you should deactivate the little fugitive until you've gotten him back to your workshop."

"No, he's not going to try anything," Luke said certainly.

Suddenly Artoo jumped to life with a mass of frantic whistles and screams.

"What's wrong with him now?" he asked Threepio.

"Oh my…sir, he says there are several creatures approaching from the southeast."

Luke looked to the south with his rifle in hand. "Sandpeople! Or worse! Come on, let's have a look. Come on," he said, making his way up the canyon ridge.

As Threepio came up behind him, he said, "There are two Banthas down there but I don't see any…wait a second, they're Sandpeople all right. I can see one of them now."

Before Luke could react further, one of the Sandpeople appeared just in front of him. Threepio backpedalled until he fell from the ridge, and Luke fought with the Tuskan Raider, but was also similarly knocked back.

* * *

Obi-Wan Kenobi used the Force to project the cry of a Krayt Dragon through the area, and the Sandpeople fled from his charge. He sighed, wondering what had brought Luke all the way out to his home, or nearly so. He looked closely at Luke, both with his eyes and the Force, then he heard a quiet beep. He looked around, finding the source to be an R2 unit that was hiding in a crevice in the canyon.

"Hello there! Come here my little friend. Don't be afraid," he said to the droid, and it obediently moved toward him. The R2 unit's beeping mimicked worry as he approached Luke's fallen form.

"Don't worry, he'll be all right," he reassured the droid as he placed his hand on the boy's forehead, checking for damage. Finding only minimal damage, easily corrected, even by a warrior Jedi, he insisted to Luke's battered mind that he wake.

"What happened?" Luke asked as he sat up.

"Rest easy, son, you've had a busy day. You're fortunate you're still in one piece," he told the boy.

"Ben? Ben Kenobi! Boy, am I glad to see you!" Luke said excitedly, causing Obi-Wan to smile slightly. He'd never really gotten used to being called 'Ben.'

"The Jundland Wastes are not to be traveled lightly. Tell me young Luke, what brings you out this far?" he asked seriously.

"Oh, this little droid! I think he's searching for his former master...I've never seen such devotion in a droid before...there seems to be no stopping him. He claims to be the property of an Obi-Wan Kenobi. Is he a relative of yours? Do you know who he's talking about?" Luke asked earnestly.

Obi-Wan pondered this for a moment, stroking his beard. "Obi-Wan Kenobi...Obi-Wan? Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time…a long time."

"I think my uncle knew him. He said he was dead," Luke said, sounding discouraged.

"Oh, he's not dead, not…not yet," Obi-Wan said, smiling again. Maybe this would get them off this, as Luke would put it, 'dustball.'

"You know him!" Luke shouted excitedly, getting up to go in search of this 'mysterious' Obi-Wan.

"Well of course, of course I know him. He's me! I haven't gone by the name Obi-Wan since oh, before you were born," he told Luke. The fact that it had been hours before wasn't particularly relevant.

"Then the droid does belong to you."

"Don't seem to remember ever owning a droid. Very interesting…" he said. It looked similar to the one that the boy's mother had once owned, but a sound came to his ears from the cliffs above them. "I think we better get indoors. The Sandpeople are easily startled but they will soon be back and in greater numbers."

Luke sat up, rubbing his head, and Artoo let out a most pathetic beep, reminding Luke of something. "Threepio!"

Artoo trundled off in the direction of the forgotten droid, and the two of them followed. They soon found that he'd been partially buried in a large sand pit from his fall. Luke flipped the switch on the back of the droid's head until the droid finally started.

"Where am I? I must have taken a bad step…" the droid said as his eyes lit up. _Yes, these are the droids. I wonder what the galaxy has in store for us __now?_

"Can you stand? We've got to get out of here before the Sandpeople return," Luke said.

"I don't think I can make it. You go on, Master Luke. There's no sense in you risking yourself on my account. I'm done for," Threepio said. His fatalist attitude hadn't changed either.

Artoo beeped encouragingly at Threepio.

"No, you're not. What kind of talk is that?" Luke asked, as he and Obi-Wan helped the droid to his feet. Obi-Wan could feel the Tuskans returning.

"Quickly, son...they're on the move," he said, and the four of them headed for his home.

They reached it without incident, fortunately. He found some tools to help Luke fix the droid, and then he settled in for a few moments of deep thought while Luke worked.

"Your father owned droids much like these before he fought in the Clone Wars," he said, trying to sound as though he was just musing, but it was really something much more important than that.

"No, my father didn't fight in the wars. He was a navigator on a spice freighter," Luke said, letting what Owen had told him cloud his thoughts.

"That's what your uncle told you. He didn't hold with your father's ideals. Thought he should have stayed here and not gotten involved," Obi-Wan said. Not entirely true, but close enough. Owen thought that if Anakin had never left Tatooine, the galaxy would be a better place. But by the time that the two brothers met, they were both grown, or nearly so.

"You fought in the Clone Wars?" Luke deduced.

"Yes, I was once a Jedi Knight the same as your father."

"I wish I'd known him," Luke said passionately. _I wish you had been able to know my brother as well, son._

"He was the best star-pilot in the galaxy, and a cunning warrior. I understand you've become quite a good pilot yourself. And he was a good friend. Which reminds me…" _I should give you Anakin's __Lightsaber__ while I have the chance. It will allow you to know that I tell you the truth._ He stood up and rummaged around in his chest as Luke finished with the droid. He found the lightsaber, and turned around and said, "I have something here for you. Your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough, but your uncle wouldn't allow it. He feared you might follow old Obi-Wan on some damned-fool idealistic crusade like your father did."

"Sir, if you'll not be needing me, I'll close down for awhile," Threepio informed Luke.

"Sure, go ahead," Luke said to the droid, and Obi-Wan handed Anakin's Lightsaber to his son, prompting the question, "What is it?"

"Your father's lightsaber. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or as random as a blaster," he said, and Luke activated the lightsaber, fascinated by the weapon. Obi-Wan continued, "An elegant weapon for a more civilized time. For over a thousand generations the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times, before the Empire."

Distracted by the sapphire glow, Luke asked, "How did my father die?"

Obi-Wan took his time in answering, knowing that his point-of-view on the issue would always be skewed, but that this was the only way he could look at it and stay sane, "A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. He betrayed and murdered your father. Now the Jedi are all but extinct. Vader was seduced by the dark side of the Force."

"The Force?" came Luke's curious prompt.

"Well, the Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together," he said, repeating the first lesson he'd ever had on the Force.

Artoo's beeping interrupted them, but it drew his attention back to why Luke was there. "Now, let's see if we can't figure out what you are, my little friend. And where you come from."

"I saw part of the message he was…" Luke started, ever trying to be helpful. It was a trait he'd inherited from his father. Artoo started the recording with no further prompting from them.

"I seem to have found it," Obi-Wan said, sitting so that he could watch the recording.

Leia, for that was the only person it could be, started talking, "General Kenobi, years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire. I regret that I am unable to present my father's request to you in person, but my ship has fallen under attack and I'm afraid my mission to bring you to Alderaan has failed. I have placed information vital to the survival of the Rebellion into the memory systems of this R2 unit. My father will know how to retrieve it. You must see this droid safely delivered to him on Alderaan. This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope."

He picked up his pipe, puffing on it as he thought for a little while. Leia would need her brother's help more than she needed a Jedi Master's. "You must learn the ways of the Force if you're to come with me to Alderaan."

"Alderaan? I'm not going to Alderaan. I've got to go home. It's late, I'm in for it as it is," Luke said, and he even got up to leave the house.

"I need your help, Luke. She needs your help. I'm getting too old for this sort of thing," he said, though he knew it not to be true. His Master, Qui-Gon had been about the age he was now when he'd come to Tatooine and found Anakin.

"I can't get involved! I've got work to do! It's not that I like the Empire. I hate it! But there's nothing I can do about it right now. It's such a long way from here."

"That's your uncle talking," he said. It was true, but Luke wasn't quite old enough to see it.

Luke sighed at the mention of Owen, "Oh, God, my uncle. How am I ever going to explain this?"

Obi-Wan didn't answer him, "Learn about the Force, Luke," he prompted the boy. It wouldn't take much to make the boy's curiosity eat him alive until he did.

"Look, I can take you as far as Anchorhead. You can get a transport there to Mos Eisley or wherever you're going." Luke offered. Obi-Wan just smiled.

"You must do what you feel is right, of course."


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: So here is the next installment of this story, where I am mostly planting seeds, and hopefully those seeds will grow well...**

**A big thank you to DanaéMariSkywalker and SidiousSith who caught my lack of attention. The problems that were pointed out were corrected. **

**And to all of my readers and reviewers, thank you. I hope this serves to placate you as I approach Holiday Break--campus will be closed, so I will only have intermittent internet access at one friend's house and my brothers. Not that I mind being either place, but both have their drawbacks (my niece and nephew, for example, who I love dearly, are 4 1/2 years and 4 1/2 months...it does tend toward the distracting)**

** Anyway. Here is the chapter without further rambling from me. **

* * *

Jaina woke up, finding that her grandfather was asleep in one of the other rooms. He was not exactly as she had expected him to be, but she had never had cause to be afraid of him, and so she slipped quietly out of the bed she was sharing with her mother and left the small room that she had been given for the time that she had been on the ship. She understood that he was the Dark Lord of the Sith that had made her mother shudder when his name came up. But she'd never shown fear to him, and so he had never given her cause to be afraid. It was odd, if she'd bothered to think about it, but she was young enough to just accept that if she treated him as though he were a loving grandfather, he would treat her accordingly.

"Granda?" she whispered as she approached him at his desk.

"Yes?"

"Why aren't Jace and Anakin with Mommy?" she asked in the hushed tone she'd adopted.

He sighed. "Why are you whispering?"

"Because Mommy is still asleep," she whispered, thinking it logical.

"She won't wake if you speak normally in here," he informed her.

"But why aren't Jace and Anakin with Mommy?" she asked again, this time in a normal tone of voice.

"Did you bring them with you?"

"No…"

"Did they know where you were going?"

"No…"

"So how do you expect them to be here?"

"But they are always here…" she complained, her young vocabulary not quite having the words to express the ideas she was having.

"Why do you think that? Don't you remember a time when it was just you and Jace, and Anakin wasn't around yet?"

"Well, yeah…I remember when Anakin was born, but…"

"And you came backward in time to now, and do you even know how far back you went?"

"I don't know," she said, looking down at her bare toes.

"And you specifically came back to see me, did you not?"

"Yeah…"

"And didn't you say that I died before you were born?"

"Yeah, but you were still around…"

"I think there is a big difference between being around before you were born and being around after you die."

"So, will I ever see Jace again?" she asked mournfully.

"Come here," he said, and she crawled into his lap. "I think you will most definitely see your brothers again, but they have to be born first."

"So when do they get born?"

"I really don't know, Jaya. I'm sorry that you are sad to have lost them, but I don't know how you did what you did, so I really don't know how to get you back _when_ you belong."

"Jace knows."

"What do you mean?"

"I used to see Jace all the time, but he wasn't right. He was old and sad. He would watch the three of us for hours. I knew that he would go away if he knew that one of us saw him, so I was careful and didn't let him know that I knew."

"So how did you do what you did?"

She shrugged. "I just thought really hard about being where you were."

"So why was Jace sad?"

"I don't know. It was different sometimes. The first time I saw him he was mad, like madder than I've ever seen Mommy or anybody, scary mad. But he was sad, too, like he was almost going to cry forever. I didn't want to see him, that first time. He scared me, but he didn't do anything; he didn't hurt us."

"What about the next time?"

"It was almost like he was happy, but he was still sad. I think he was lots older than the first time he had been there. It wasn't the bad kind of sad, though, just normal sad."

"How many times did you see him, in total?"

"Maybe as many times as I have fingers."

"So ten?"

She brightened, "Yes, ten."

"What about the other times?"

"I think the rest of the times were different in-between times. He was always sad, but sometimes he was mad, sometimes he was just sad, and one other time he was happy."

"It doesn't sound like your twin has had a good life."

"I don't know. I just know it hurts to see him sometimes, and I know that he would go away if I said anything to him."

"Well, maybe we can do something together to make him better."

"I don't know. I miss him."

"Well, I don't have any answers for you, Jaya, I'm sorry."

She thought about it for a little while. "It's ok, Granda. I have you."

* * *

Luke rode with Ben and the droids back to the Lars's farm, nearly in silence. He had clipped his father's lightsaber to his belt, which had earned him a small smile from Ben. They stopped in front of the farm, its peaceful surroundings soon abused by Owen's voice.

"Where have you been, boy?"

Luke sighed, and visibly wilted. "I went to find this R2 unit. I took the restraining bolt off last night when I was cleaning him and forgot to put it back on."

"And you are just now getting around to telling me, Luke?" Owen asked angrily.

"Look, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I'll take the droids into Anchorhead and have their memories wiped. I told Ben that I would take him there so that he could go help her."

"Her who?" Owen asked, his anger growing.

"Princess Leia Organa." Ben answered, drawing up to his full height. "Who actually happens to need Luke much more than you do."

Owen, it seemed, recognized the name, and for some reason or another that made him very sad. "I…I can't let the boy out into the galaxy. You asked me to protect him when you brought him here. I have done my best to do that."

"Yes, Owen, you have," Ben said kindly, "But the galaxy demands the service of the house of Skywalker once again. Luke is not his father. He will not have the same trials, the same demands. I almost fear that it will be worse for Luke than it was for Anakin, but Luke carries his mother's strength. I have seen it in the quiet dignity he holds himself to."

"He will be better off here, Ben. It's not safe for him out in the rest of the galaxy," Owen said, hoping his plea would not fall on deaf ears.

"Safe," Ben said, stroking his beard, and then he started talking like a spring had been released. "The boy has never been safe. He has only ever been a heartbeat away from Vader finding him. All that had to happen was for Vader to set foot on this planet. Luck is all that has kept your nephew safe. And now Vader has Leia. I don't know if he will realize her significance or not, but if he does, she will undoubtedly be in mortal danger. I do not want to force a decision on anyone. If Luke truly wishes to remain here, that is his choice, but it must be his to make."

Owen turned to him finally. "I'm sorry, Luke. I've tried to do what I have thought is best for you, never thinking that you eventually grow up, and want a life that was your own. I don't want you to go, not because I don't want to see you happy, but because I don't want to see you dead. I have buried my father, my step-mother, and my step-brother. I don't want to see another Skywalker die."

"You guys sound like you're sending me straight to the Emperor's throne with that kind of talk," Luke said, bashful at the attention he was now garnering.

"It is not outside the realm of possibilities, Luke. The Emperor would be very interested if he knew you existed," Ben told him seriously.

"Tell me why the Princess would be in danger from Vader, more than a normal person would be."

"She is a very special person, Luke, more special than most realize. She is like you in that regard."

"What do you mean?" Luke asked, his curiosity piqued.

"I will tell you after you decide what you are going to do. Are you coming to Alderaan with me?"

Luke wanted to deny the pull of the stars, to stay somewhere safe and happy, but as he opened his mouth to tell Ben no, "Yes, I want to save her," came out instead.

A smile spread across Ben's face. "I'm sure that she will be happy to hear that."

"Aren't you going to tell me why she is special?"

"I may, but it will have to wait. Right now we need to get to Anchorhead, or Mos Eisley, and head for Alderaan."

"You can take those droids with you. They don't really belong to us, but to Leia."

"That is quite generous of you, Owen, thank you," Ben said. "I am sure that the Organas will be happy to compensate you for the loss that you will have suffered because of this."

"I just had hoped it would never come to this, but there is a day that everyone grows up," Owen said to Luke. It was in that moment that he realized how much Owen had loved him, and how much he had tried to be the father that Luke had never had. Tears welled up in Luke's eyes, and he felt regret for leaving, for wanting to leave the home his uncle had provided him for the last nineteen years. He embraced his Uncle, feeling for the first time that Owen saw _him_ and not some shadow of his father or his grandmother. His father had left when he was very young, but a number was never put on that day; it had been before Owen's father, Grandfather Cliegg, had met his grandmother, and married her.

"May the Force be with you, always," Aunt Beru said to him as he hopped back into the speeder to leave for Mos Eisley.

It had been over the course of the last several weeks that Obi-Wan had begun to feel more and more strongly that the Force was coming more into balance, that it was becoming lighter. He did not dare to hope that it meant he might once again find Anakin. He had accepted Yoda's pronouncement on the subject. Vader had killed Anakin. And yet…

He shook his head; they were approaching Mos Eisley, and that could spell trouble for both of them if he wasn't on his guard, paying attention. The spaceport was eerily quiet, with a hushed tone over the whole of it as though the residents were waiting for something to happen. They entered the small town, intent on a cantina that Obi-Wan knew something about. It was likely the worst of the three in Mos Eisley, but it was better than going to Mos Espa, where there was a chance that someone would see him and think how much he looked like his father. There was also less direct Hutt control here, not that it mattered. The whole of the planet was directly controlled by Jabba.

They walked in, and Luke sat at the bar, as Obi-Wan saw a Wookiee. He didn't know many Wookiees, but he knew that they were to a being, friends of the Jedi. "Hello, friend,"

_"A Jedi,"_ the Wookiee growled at him.

"Yes, can we talk?"

_"Here,"_ he indicated a booth. _"__I am Chewbacca. I knew Yoda, a great Jedi Master."_

"I am truly fortunate to be speaking with you then. You don't happen to own a ship?"

_"No, not of my own. I have taken on a life-debt, but there are days I feel more like I gained a cub. Cub has a ship."_

"Are you looking to take passengers?"

_"Where? Cub doesn't like passengers, but I can bully him into it if I need to."_

"Alderaan."

_"That is well into Imperial Territory, Jedi. You would do well to stay out of there if you know what is good for you."_

"I have something that I must deliver in person, but I've never really been known for doing what is good for me."

Chewbacca shrugged, apparently having dealt with enough Jedi to make him believe Obi-Wan's statement, _"I will ask Cub. He will take you, I am sure. He tries to hide the fact that his heart is too big for his chest, but it doesn't work. I will return."_

"Thank you, friend," Obi-Wan said to the Wookiee as he left. He walked over to Luke, who seemed quite intent on his drink, as one of the other patrons approached him. He knew that he needed to extract Luke from the situation before someone got hurt.

"Come along," he said to Luke, who abandoned the Jawa Juice that he had ordered at the bar, obviously uncomfortable with the other patrons around him. One particularly drunk and mean looking individual looked like he was just about to get up and say something to Luke, and was therefore shocked when he got to the seat that Luke had just occupied, finding it empty.

They exited then, returning to the landspeeder, which contained the two droids still. "I don't like that place," Luke complained.

"Ah, we will not have to return. Chewbacca will come and find us soon enough."

"Is that the name of the Wookiee that you were talking to?"

"Yes. Quite a warrior if I have my facts down. We can discuss it later."

"Sure, Ben, whatever you say," Luke said, agreeing readily.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: I am sorry to take so long to get this out. I promise, my faithful readers, that I will endeavor to return to some sembalance of regularity with my posting. **

**Elusive Maverick: For you I worked up one chapter, this being the one I thought I could finish with most quickly. **

**Baracade: Don't know what I'm doing about the 'future' stuff, yet. **

**Thanks everyone for reviewing, and please read on and enjoy!**

* * *

Luke looked at their supposed transport. "What a piece of junk," were the first words out of his mouth.

"She may not be much to look at, but she's got it where it counts, kid," Han Solo, the human half of the duo they had hired, said. "I've added some special modifications myself."

Ben seemed unperturbed by the state of the ship that they were flying in. "Come along, young Luke. We have much to do, and little time to do it in."

Luke shrugged and followed him up the ramp.

* * *

Vader had avoided leaving the _Devastator_ until everyone else was off. Leia and Jaina were waiting as well, Leia a bit more patiently than Jaina. They were to stay aboard the ship, and some of Vader's men had elected to remain in their quarters on the _Devastator_ in their off time, rather than to move to the more luxurious accommodations aboard the _Death Star._ He had also made that particular preference known to the Death Star's crew. When he told the Rebel Alliance members, who had been nearly forgotten in his brig, his attention had been so diverted by his daughter's presence among them, that he wanted them to indicate that they had been thoroughly tortured already, and make no mention of Leia Organa, they were all too happy to comply with his strange request. No one was willing to look that particular gift horse in the mouth.

"What are you going to do?" Leia asked.

"I have to go meet Tarkin. From there, we will see."

"Can I go Granda?" Jaina asked him, subdued for the first time since she'd appeared in his presence.

"No, Jaya, it's not safe for you out on the Death Star. Stay with Leia, on the _Devastator._"

"But I want to go with you," she said, wailing. He had denied her little since she'd come on board, letting her go wherever he went, and now it was coming home that he hadn't been doing what was best for her.

"Jaina, you will stay here. The _Devastator_ is safe, a place where I am in charge of what goes on. The Death Star is not safe. It is not a place where I have enough control over what goes on for me to feel like you will be safe there. I don't want you to get hurt."

The words sounded strange to him, as though it was something he should have never said, words coming out of another lifetime, one where he got to know his kids, and help with his grandkids. One where he'd never turned to the dark side. "Granda, don't be sad. It hurts when you're sad like that," Jaina said, and he looked at her, "It hurts here," she said, indicating the middle of her chest.

Tears welled in his eyes for the first time in ages, and he looked at his young daughter, to keep his emotions from overwhelming him. "Take care, both of you. I'll return later tonight."

* * *

Luke practiced with his father's lightsaber on the long trip to Alderaan. True to his word, Han's ship made point five past lightspeed, and they would be on Alderaan soon, much sooner than just about any other ship could make it.

"We should be at Alderaan about oh-two-hundred hours," Han said as he came into the main lounge.

"Thank you, Han," Ben said pleasantly, then returned his attention to Luke, "Remember, Luke, a Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him."

"You mean it controls your actions?" he asked as he stopped for a moment. The droids were playing Dejarik with Chewie, and Han became absorbed in watching the game almost instantly.

"Partially. But it also obeys your commands," Ben answered him.

He wasn't paying enough attention to the seeker droid that he was battling, and it caught him on the leg. "Ow," he cried out, and the droid backed off a bit.

"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid," Han said derisively.

"You don't believe in the Force, do you?" he asked.

"Kid, I've flown from one side of this galaxy to the other. I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all-powerful force controlling everything. There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny," he said, jabbing his thumb into his chest.

Luke didn't laugh at the man, but then again, he could _feel_ that what Ben was saying was right. A glance at the old man revealed that he was smiling as well.

"It's all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense," Han said, clearly feeling the need to further explain himself.

Ben ignored him, and returned to Luke's lesson, "I suggest you try it again, Luke," he said, getting out a pilot's helmet, with the blast shields down on it already, and placed it on Luke's head. "This time, let go your conscious self and act on instinct."

"With the blast shield down, I can't even see," he complained laughingly, but he'd learned not to underestimate Ben's ways. "How am I supposed to fight?"

"Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them," Ben explained patiently, and he felt the seeker catch him from behind, and he turned quickly to try to hit it. "Stretch out with your feelings."

He tried what Ben suggested, and it was almost like he could see. He caught the next bolt. "You see, you can do it," Ben told him encouragingly.

"I call it luck," Han said sourly.

"In my experience, there's no such thing as luck." Obi-Wan said.

"Look, going good against remotes is one thing. Going good against the living? That's something else," Han said, and he had a point. There was a small light flashing in the cockpit, within Luke's notice, barely. "Looks like we're coming up on Alderaan," he said, effectively ending the discussion as he headed to the cockpit with Chewbacca.

"You know, I did feel something. I could almost see the remote," he told Ben.

"That's good. You have taken your first step into a larger world."

* * *

Tarkin faced off with Vader, who seemed to have changed. Not that one could really tell, but there was something in his demeanor that screamed that something had happened to the man. Something profound, something big enough to change the man's entire world view. He'd seen it often enough to recognize the symptoms, but he would have never thought that Vader would have been subject to that kind of pressure the way that some men under his command were.

He ignored it, for the time being, filing that piece of information away for use later when he spoke next with the Emperor. It may have been something that had already captured the Emperor's attention, or the Emperor himself may have caused it. He really had no way of knowing.

"You captured the ship of Senator Organa, and she was not aboard, nor did they have the plans for the Death Star, yet they received transmissions from a quarantined planet, one which was known to have Rebel sympathies, with you chasing them, and the only thing that important to the Rebellion would have been those plans."

"That is correct," Vader said. The vocalizer took any hint of emotion out of the man's voice, if truly a man he was, making him harder to read. The lack of expressions on his face didn't help anything, either. He could hide a wealth of information simply by being still and speaking quietly, and it made Tarkin nervous.

"So where did she go?"

"She was not on board their vessel. I assume she was elsewhere for their entire trip. It is not unheard of for a diplomat to send their group out for missions without them."

"She's not on Coruscant," Tarkin said, since he'd checked.

"Perhaps she is visiting her father," he said, and Tarkin would have sworn that he sounded amused.

"You did not pursue the droids that were ejected from the ship."

"The Force has shown me that they are of no consequence. I have no desire to waste time with trivialities that make no difference."

Tarkin slammed his fist on the table as he stood. "The Force?! The Force is an outdated notion that only a very, very few have access to, thanks to the Emperor. We need something more concrete than 'the Force' to say something is trivial."

"I find your lack of faith in the Force disturbing, Tarkin. If you would like a demonstration as to what the Force is capable of, I would be happy to arrange it," Vader said. It sounded so totally out of character for him that Tarkin paused for a long while before he addressed the question.

"I do forget that both you and the Emperor are quite strong with the Force. I expect, though, that if you have access to this amount of foreknowledge, you will be able to provide the location of the Rebel Base by the time this station is operational."

"I cannot simply demand knowledge from the Force. I only receive what is given to me. I do not have the power of the Emperor in this area; my strengths lie elsewhere."

Absolutely stunned, Tarkin sat back down. This was definitely out of character for Vader. He would have to bring this to the Emperor's attention. "Since you have no further useful information, this meeting is adjourned," he said, and as he left the room, intent on doing something, he forgot what it was that he should have been doing.

* * *

Obi-Wan watched through the viewports in the cockpit as they entered the Alderaan system. He felt uneasy about something; an unsettled feeling that he usually got before Anakin had done something that should have gotten him killed, or worse. He hadn't felt that feeling since Mustafar. And then, it had been so strong with him that it made him sick for weeks after, when he'd let himself feel, when he'd broken down and cried for the brother that he'd lost.

He hoped that the feeling in the pit of his stomach meant survival, both for himself and for Anakin. "We should land in Aldera," Obi-Wan said. "Actually, if we can speak with Flight Control, I may be able to convince them to let us land at the Palace."

"Have you ever been to Aldera Royal Palace?" Han asked him as they began to merge into the light traffic that weaved through the system.

"No, but that is of little consequence," Obi-Wan told him. There were a number of imperial vessels there, hovering around Alderaan's moon, mostly, though it didn't look like any moon he'd ever seen. They would pass fairly close to it, but not close enough to make him worry.

"Of no consequence? How are we supposed to go somewhere you've never been?"

"We'll get directions. I have never had occasion to visit Bail when he was on Alderaan. I most generally saw him when he was on Coruscant."

Just then a creaking sound issued from the vessel. A few punches of buttons by the pilot and copilot later, Han said, "I don't believe it. We're caught in a tractor beam."

"Can't you break it?" Luke asked.

"No, kid, we're just going to have to ride this one out," Han said as he shut the engines down.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Sorry it's taken me so long to get this updated. This chapter has been a tricky one, but I think I'm set in the way that I'm going to go with this story, so that helps me with laying this chapter out, and thus there is probably going to end up being a considerable amount of foreshadowingish. Though I really don't know how it will work out until I actually sit down and write more with this. **

* * *

Vader stood on the bridge of the _Death Star._ Officers buzzed around him, intent on their duties. "The ship is on board, sir. The vessel matches descriptions of a minor smuggling ship that the Empire has dealt with on several occasions. They are in violation of the embargo around Alderaan, but they may not have known that there was an embargo to violate," the officer at the tractor beam station said.

"Ignorance of what is going on is no excuse. They will be properly punished," Tarkin said. "Lord Vader, why don't you go see who our erstwhile guests are?"

Vader nodded to Tarkin, happy for an excuse to be out of the man's sight. He noticed that the cargo bay that contained this vessel was also the one that contained the _Devastator_, so he was actually rather anxious to ensure that no one got from this new ship to his.

He felt out with the Force, wondering if he could ascertain the strength of these unknown enemies, when he found not an enemy presence, but the warm presence of Obi-Wan Kenobi. He withdrew into himself as soon as he realized who it was that was on the ship. He considered, as the turbolift he was on sped its way down to the cargo bays, what it could mean for him, having Obi-Wan there. Surely Obi-Wan would still think him the lost soul that he'd been the last time that they'd had occasion to cross paths.

The doors opened, giving him no more time to think, and he strode over to the officer in charge of investigating the ship, and the cargo bay as a whole. "Lord Vader," the man said nervously. "We made a cursory examination of the ship, and the logs indicate that it was abandoned shortly after takeoff."

He nodded. "I wish to see the inside of the ship."

"Yes, my lord, I will have someone escort you," he answered quickly.

"Alone," Vader specified.

"Yes, my lord, as you wish."

"Clear the gallery as well. There will be nothing of importance going on in the cargo bay for several hours."

"Yes, my lord, at once," the man answered, and he began to do what Vader had ordered.

* * *

Leia felt something, something she would have dismissed as fantasy before she met with Jaina and Vader. That something she now called a stirring in the Force. There was a pressure, slightly, that felt familiar, not that she would have been able to articulate why.

She had insisted on Jaina taking a nap, though she remembering hating them as a child, but Jaina didn't fight her on it. She woke up, from the same stirring in the Force that was bothering Leia or at least that was the only reason that she could think of for the girl to be awake at a time when she was normally only half-way through her nap. "Unca Luke?" she asked, sleepily rubbing her eyes.

"He's not here, Jaina," she said, though identifying the presence as her brother made sense to the part of her that had sensed it.

"Yes he is, Mommy. I can feel him." Jaina definitely took after the Skywalker side of the family. "I want to see him."

"Well, you are just going to have to wait a while, then, aren't you?"

She looked downcast. "Granda said we gots to stay here."

"Your memory is impeccable."

"What's im-peck-a-ble?

"It means that you remembered well."

"So it's good?"

"Yes, it's good."

"Is Unca Luke gonna come save us?"

"I don't know. What do we need saved from?"

Jaina shrugged. "I think maybe he's saving us from boring."

Leia tried not to laugh, but it was rather hard. "I don't know that he'd come all the way to Alderaan to save us from boredom."

"Why not? He's the best Unca in the whole galaxy."

* * *

Vader was cautious as he approached the smuggler's vessel. He could feel the bright Force signatures of Obi-Wan and his son, and though their signatures were bright, he could tell that there were others aboard the vessel as well. He walked through the ship twice before deciding that they were hidden within the main room, or at least within hearing distance of the main room. "You might as well come out," he said to the apparently empty room.

No one came out though. "Obi-Wan Kenobi, I know that you are here. Come out. We should talk."

There was no response. He waited and thought for a little bit. "Or I could just go get Jaina and Leia and I will fly this ship out of here myself," he said, and smiled when that got him a response, albeit a muted one. "I'm sure Obi-Wan could tell you how excellent my piloting skills are. I still remember fondly our last flight together, in the _Invisible Hand_. How he doubted my piloting skills, even then, even after we'd flown thousands of missions together. I did manage to land her, though not in one piece."

"Stop tormenting the boy," a voice came from behind him.

He turned to face his former Master. "We have much to discuss."

"I had surmised that."

"Come with me to my ship."

Obi-Wan hesitated, but quickly enough he nodded. "That will be acceptable."

They walked down the ramp and across the cargo bay to the _Devastator. _He opened the door and turned to Obi-Wan with a flourish. Obi-Wan entered first, but fell in behind Vader as they walked through the ship. He took them to a conference room, one relatively near his quarters, but not near enough to draw Jaina's instant attention.

"I have come to realize that I was wrong, on a great many fronts. Palpatine told me that I had killed Padmé on Mustafar. I have since found that she lived long enough to have twins. Leia is here with me, and Luke, whom you have been watching over. Every single thing I found out only weakened my trust in him. I now understand that it was wrong to have let him manipulate me.

"I want you to understand why I did it. I had nightmares, starting the night we got back from the Outer Rim Sieges, that Padmé would die in childbirth. You saw what I was like with the nightmares of my mother's death, and having lost my mother after visions, you, I'm sure, can only imagine how I felt when I started having visions of Padmé's death. It was that desperation to save her that caused me to turn to Palpatine. He said there was a Sith power that could save her, and there is, but love and hate cannot exist in their most pure forms inside one person. He didn't tell me that when I turned to the dark side, I would lose my love. I would lose my reason for existing, and live only in hate, anger, and pain.

"I found, three weeks ago, that there was still within me the capacity for love. As I said, love and hate cannot exist within one person in their most pure forms. Being a Sith is distilling oneself to a being capable of holding the most pure form of hate inside."

It was at that moment, that lull where Vader had expected Obi-Wan to say something that Jaina decided to enter the room. "Granda," she squealed as she entered the room.

"Jaya, Granda's busy," he scolded her gently as she climbed into his lap.

"But you're never too busy for me."

"Granda's having a grown-up conversation."

"Oh," she said, biting her lip. "I'll go get Mommy, and is Unca Luke going to come visit?"

"I don't know yet, but yes, go find your mother and I will come get you when there is something you may do," she bounced down from his lap, and headed out the door. "She came here from the future," he explained to Obi-Wan.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan began hesitantly, "Anakin, I want to help you, I just don't know how."

"Help me defeat the Emperor. We'll figure the rest out later."

Obi-Wan closed his eyes and shook his head. "You still haven't learned to plan better than that?"

"I've never needed a plan better than that."

"Let me think about it for a while."

"You have as much time as you need."

"Thank you. I would like an opportunity to speak with Jaya."

"I would welcome your opinion of her. The conclusion that she came to the past was a difficult one."

* * *

Luke was not particularly happy with the current situation. Vader had come inside their ship, and he had _known_ Obi-Wan was there. He'd known how to get to Han, too. Threatening to fly the ship himself was more than Han could take. It had taken half the day to get him to quiet down after that, but mostly going down to the engine deck, instead of staying where they were, all cramped up. It didn't seem like they would be able to hide there forever.

"So, the old fossil was his teacher once?" Luke nodded distractedly. He could almost hear voices calling out his name, and it wasn't easy to pay attention when that was the case. He hadn't been anywhere like this place, with the eerie voices calling him. "Wonder what he was like as a student."

Luke shrugged. "Ben didn't say much beyond the fact that he trained Vader. They seem to be on pretty good terms, considering."

"Considering what?"

"That Vader is evil."

Han seemed to have no argument with that. Luke wasn't one to accept the word of another on the state of someone's soul, though. Some would have said that he was too much like his mother in that respect, though he didn't know that.

* * *

Leia wasn't prepared when Jaina slipped from her grasp, heading to another part of the ship at top speed. She assumed Jaya was heading for someone she considered family. Leia walked after her at a more sedate pace, analyzing what had been happening that whole afternoon. There was this base hum that she'd begun to hear; her connection to the Force, she supposed. There was also a tug that she could feel that she corresponded to a hole she'd felt all of her life; her twin. She wanted badly to go to him, but she didn't dare. She was in a precarious position at best. The man who had once been her father was hiding her from the Empire, at great risk to himself, were he to be found out, especially by the Emperor. He was parsecs away, thankfully, but he had spies and cronies all over the Empire.

As she mused about what she should do, Jaina returned. "Granda is talking grown-up."

"And who is he talking to?"

Jaina shrugged. "A old Jedi with a beard."

Leia nodded. "Do you know this Jedi's name?"

Jaina shook her head. "Maybe Granda will let you stay with them. He said he was talking grown-up, and that made him too busy for me to be there."

Leia sighed. "Perhaps. Do you want something to eat?"

Jaina thought about that for a moment. "Not really, Mommy. I want to go see Granda, and see if he will go find Unca Luke and bring him to see us."

"I see."

"Do you want to go talk to Granda for me?"

"I don't think that's a particularly good idea."

"Why?"

"Because, he is busy. I don't think he will be not busy for quite some time."

A door ahead of them opened, and Vader came out. "There you two are. Good. Come in here, please?"

Jaina squealed. "I was right, Mommy," she said, and ran over to Vader, embracing one of his legs. She shook her head at her daughter's antics, heading into the room after them.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: I'm sorry for the horribly long time that it's taken for me to get back to this story. It's going to be relatively short, but I haven't taken the time to actually finish it, and I'm sorry. I don't know yet how much longer it's going to be, but not that much. It's not going to be the epic-length that my main fics are taking.**

Elizabeth Claire, **pharoah, **Teresa, **ILDV, **dm1, **phantom-jedi1, **monkyluvr, **general-joseph-dickson**, ElusiveMaverick, **just me, **Harm Marie, **Freedom Tide, **SOONsoonSOON: **Thank you all for reviewing and supporting my story, and I hope to be totally on track with everything by the end of the week**

* * *

Leia entered Vader's conference room with some trepidation. Vader was there, as was Jaina, who had climbed into her grandfather's lap. "I wanna see Unca Luke," Jaina insisted.

"Luke is rather busy right now," an older bearded man said, one she hadn't noticed until he spoke up.

"Why is everybody busy?" Jaina asked plaintively. It pulled at Leia's heartstrings to hear the deep-seated complaint. "Unca Luke always makes time for me," she said, continuing to whine.

"I'm not busy right now, and I'd like to speak with you, if that's alright," the bearded man said, gently, as though he hadn't had much contact with children.

"If Granda says it's ok," she said warily, not necessarily trusting this person she didn't know.

"Well, Anakin?" the man asked, looking at Vader.

Vader looked at Jaina, and said, "You should speak with Obi-Wan, Jaya. He is a good man, you can trust him." Leia was surprised that this was Obi-Wan Kenobi, the man she'd been sent to contact, to bring to the Rebellion.

"Ok, Granda," Jaina answered, clearly not pleased with the additional adult attention.

"So, Jaina," Obi-Wan started as Vader set her into a different chair as he got up. "Anakin tells me that you have a brother."

Vader moved toward the door, toward Leia. "We should let them get to know each other," he told her. She nodded and moved out of the door, into the hall. "It will be some time that Obi-Wan will be evaluating Jaina's story. I believe he will be better able to judge and draw out more of the story than I have been able to so far."

"Why did he call you Anakin? Isn't that the name of one of the Jedi that was lost in the Clone Wars or the Purges?" she asked as they walked down the hall.

"He calls me Anakin because it was my name before I became what I am now. It depends on your definition of lost as to whether I was. I suppose you could consider it in that fashion. I'm not sure now what to call myself."

His confession gave Leia a lot to think over. "What do you want to call yourself?" she asked him, as they entered Vader's private quarters.

He let the door close before answering, but she could also feel his turmoil over the question. "I believe I want to be Anakin Skywalker, but I don't know how any longer," he said as he looked at her.

"I would like to get to know Anakin Skywalker. What does he like?"

"Flying," he said without hesitation.

"What did Anakin Skywalker like to fly?"

A moment's pause was all that he needed to answer, "The _Azure Angel_, my fighter. Totally customized, like Master Tiin's. He understood the way that I understood machines."

"What else does Anakin Skywalker like?"

It took much longer before he was able to answer her question. "Padmé Amidala."

She'd heard the name before, from her father, but never in the context that she was in any way related to her. "Who is that?" she asked, though she had a good suspicion.

"My wife," he said, words barely whispered, but even at that, the vocalizer amplified it to where she could hear.

She could tell without the Force that this was going to be a touchy subject for him. She was dead, that much Leia knew, but she didn't know more, and she would need to, probably 

before much longer. "I'm sorry."

"She would have loved you, and I know that she would be proud of you, for what you've been doing with the Senate."

The words were so heartfelt that Leia didn't know what to say, so she stood there, looking at him, stunned by the revelation as to how much he cared, or perhaps had cared was a better statement. He seemed to feel so much, so intensely, that someone would have to be blind not to see it.

"Where did things go wrong, Anakin?" she asked, not knowing exactly where the question would take her, but knowing that it needed to be asked.

His vocalizer rattled in a peculiar way, and she realized that he was sighing. "I was afraid."

"What does that have to do with anything?" she asked, confused.

His voice took on a tone as though he were lecturing her. "Fear and anger are the emotions of the path to the dark side," he said, pausing for a moment. "Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering," he said, then was quiet for another moment, as though he were remembering. "Careful you must be when sensing the future, Anakin. The fear of loss is a path to the dark side," and again he paused, "If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny."

Now she was sure he was remembering. "Who said that?" she asked gently.

"Master Yoda. He never talked much to me, and I didn't listen when he did. I suppose that if I had, we wouldn't be in the mess that we are in now. You must be cognizant of the way to the dark side. I would not be able to take you making the same mistakes that I did. Learn from my mistakes."

The last sounded more like a plea than an order, as though he were afraid that if she were left to her own devices she would do just as he did.

* * *

Obi-Wan was left in the oddest situation that he'd ever found himself in. His former Padawan had just left the room he was in, and left with his grown daughter, leaving him alone with his granddaughter, who had transported herself from the future. "So, Jaina, Anakin tells me you have a brother," he said as the two of them left the room.

"I have two brothers, Jacen and Anakin."

"Really? Is one of them your twin?"

She nodded. "Jacen. Anakin came later."

"And you miss them?"

"Yes. When Jacen is older he learns something, something that lets him visit us. But he's not happy when he visits us. It makes me sad for Jacen. I sometimes used to see him, before I came to live with Granda."

"So you see him, when he's older?"

"Sometimes. Not often, or regular, like when Uncle Luke visits, but sometimes, I see him hovering over us, but he's like a grown-up, but he's still Jacen. Sometimes he's sad, and sometimes he's angry, and I don't think he's ever happy. He doesn't know that I see him."

"Why is he sad?"

"He doesn't talk. I think it might be Anakin. Anakin makes him sadder."

"Does Anakin make him sad now?"

"No, Jacen doesn't get sad. Not more than me. Not all-the-time sad. I wish Granda wasn't all-the-time sad so much. He's getting less sad, though. I'm helping."

"So, do you know anyone else that's all-the-time sad?"

"You are," she declared. "Granda makes you sad."

"What about Anakin, do you know what makes him sad?"

"No, it's nothing here. He thinks about it, though. Mommy and me make him feel better."

"So do you love your Mommy?"

"Sometimes. I love Auntie Winter more. She takes care of us, because Mommy and Daddy are so busy."

He'd kept up with the Organa family just enough to know that Bail had adopted another girl, Winter, who had been the child of two people in his employ who'd both had the unfortunate circumstance of being killed at around the same time. "What were your Mommy and Daddy busy doing?"

"They do stuff for the Alliance, I think. I don't know. Mommy is on Coruscant all the time, and Daddy does stuff. He's good at that, I guess."

"What's your Daddy's name?"

"Daddy."

"That's not helpful, Jaina."

"I don't know what his name is. He's just Daddy. He and Uncle Luke do stuff sometimes when Mommy's being all political. Can I see Uncle Luke, now?"

"Is your Uncle Luke around?"

"Yes, he's somewhere. I can feel him, since I woke up from my nap."

"Could you find him on your own?"

"No. He's not on Granda's ship, and Granda says I shouldn't leave."

"What makes you think I know where he is?"

"You said earlier he was busy. So you haveta know what he's doing, so you know where he is."

"Ah. I think you're too smart for your own good."

"Daddy thinks that, too, sometimes."

"Do you see your parents often?"

"Not really. Especially not since Anakin was born."

"How old is Anakin?"

She thought for a moment before answering. "Two."

"And how old are you?"

"Three," she answered, and after a moment's pause, she added, "And a half."

"And how many times have you seen your parents since Anakin was born, but before you came to live with Anakin?"

She scrunched up her face as she thought about his question. "Less than I see Old Jace. I think Granda said that was ten," he was surprised that she made the comparison, and the information she was providing didn't make him feel particularly good about the future.

"So why did you come to live with your grandfather?"

"Because he loves me best. I'm the oldest, and I'm the only girl. And I think I remind him of Mommy."

"Why didn't you want to stay with your Aunt?"

Tears welled up in her eyes, "I did want to stay with her, but Mommy and Daddy were coming to take me away from Aunt Winter. I wish I could have stayed."

"Oh. But wouldn't you have gotten to see your grandfather still with your parents?"

She shook her head. "Mommy hated Granda. She wouldn't have wanted him to come see us. And he would have listened to her because he loves her."

"But you're here with your mother now."

"But Mommy's different."

"How so?"

"She's not all political, and she's different, inside, she's different. She doesn't hate Granda. She doesn't want to make him go away, and not talk to us."

"And she did that before?"

She nodded emphatically. "Mommy-before didn't want Granda around us. He didn't come when she was around, and even Uncle Luke talking to her didn't help."

He wasn't sure that he was getting anything accomplished any longer, but she'd stuck to her story, making it believable. It was time to see about Luke and Anakin, and possibly later see what he could do about finding out who the child's father was. It was possible that they knew of this person, even if there didn't seem to be any way of getting that information out of her.

"Let me go see if I can find this Uncle Luke of yours."

She beamed up at him. "Ok. What do I call you?"

"You may call me Obi-Wan. If you need a title for me, I am a Jedi Master. Sometimes I am called Master Obi-Wan."

"Master Obi-Wan. Can I go see Granda now?"

"That would be fine, Jaya," he told her, and she was out of the room like a shot.

* * *

Luke wasn't really having any success in calming Han down; he was clearly terrified of Vader. Luke personally saw no reason to be terrified, he was just another man, admittedly a big one, encased in black armor, but just another man, nonetheless.

"I want out of here. I didn't sign on to be captured by Imperials, and sit while the old fossil has it out with Vader."

"They were talking civilly when they left, I don't see the problem. Maybe Ben can get us out of this without any problems."

"I somehow doubt it," Han said pessimistically.

Luke sighed, letting his companion be silent. He was dealing with tiny maddening voices in his head calling his name. If this was what the Force was like, he didn't know how anyone could stand it long enough to learn to control it.

It wasn't much longer before Ben came back, without Vader, fortunately. "Ben," he said, wanting to say more but the look on Ben's face made him stop.

"I didn't think it was possible," he said quietly, to himself more than to Luke.

"What's going on, Ben?"

"I am going to explain something to you, and you aren't going to like what you're going to hear, but I must tell you absolutely all of it, or you will be unprepared for the things that lie ahead of you. And you must be prepared, if only so that you can take it all in when it really happens," Ben said, closing his eyes. Maybe it was against some pain that he was feeling, or maybe it was that he was unprepared himself for what had happened with Vader.

"I believe I will start at the beginning. Your father was a talented pilot, but he was a slave. When he was nine, he was talented enough to win the Boonta Eve Classic, I believe it was 

called."

"I remember hearing about that, the race a human had won, and then he disappeared. The people who told me didn't even know or remember his name. That was my father?"

"It was, young Luke. That race won him his freedom, and he traveled with a Jedi Master named Qui-Gon Jinn, until Master Qui-Gon died. It wasn't long, a month, perhaps. It was long enough ago that I don't really remember. It was the last month of my Padawanship, for I was the Padawan of Master Qui-Gon. With his dying breath, Qui-Gon asked me to train Anakin, and so I did, nearly in defiance of the Jedi Council. Qui-Gon believed that Anakin was the Chosen One, a myth among Jedi, a prophesized being who was supposed to bring balance to the Force. I believed that Qui-Gon was a great Jedi Master, and that he might have seen something in the boy that I didn't, so I trained him. I took him on as my Padawan Learner and saw him into Knighthood. Having done so earned me the title of Jedi Master, and a seat on the Jedi Council.

"But before he was even Knighted, Anakin was going against the Jedi Code, he strained against it at every opportunity, and I knew it. He did something that I can only imagine the implications of at this point. He fell in love. He loved your mother. I would have had to have been blind not to see it, but I let myself believe that in this one thing, he wouldn't go against the Code, for the Code forbid love of one to the exclusion of all others. You are a product of that union, the end of which is a sad tale.

"Anakin had dreams, nightmares that foretold possible futures, most of which actually happened, as far as he has ever told me. He was afraid of his dreams, the ones that told him that people he loved were dying. He had dreamed for months of his mother's death before she finally died, and so when he dreamed of your mother's death, I think he went rather insane."

"Insane? My father went crazy before he died?" he asked, disbelief clear in his voice.

"Yes, rather. I don't really think there is another word for it. He gave up everything in order to save her, but in the end, everything he did simply drove both of them into the abyss. She died, physically, but he died, spiritually. He became a nightmare on the outside because he couldn't face the ones on the inside."

"I don't understand, Ben, what are you trying to tell me?"

"Luke, your father died many years ago on a planet called Mustafar, but he didn't die physically, he died spiritually. He became another person because he couldn't face the life he was being shown in his nightmares; a life he made reality because he chased after the nightmare, trying to make it stop."

Luke didn't like the direction this was going. "So who did he become?"

Ben looked down, gathering himself for what he was about to reveal. "He became Darth Vader."

Luke stood up, not knowing what to say, he stared, horrified at Ben, not able to speak, his mind reeling. "There is much more to the story, Luke, when you are ready."

Luke nodded mutely, sitting back down, hoping this was all just a bad dream. "Your mother nearly died on Mustafar as well, and I think she left her spirit there. She was a strong woman, not someone to be bent to the will of anyone. She lived only long enough to give birth to you, and name you, but there was an unexpected surprise once you were born. You have a twin sister, younger by five minutes," he said, and before he could continue, Luke interrupted him.

"Leia."

"Yes, Leia, whom your mother also had the opportunity to name. She died, leaving the two of you in the care of her good friend, Bail Organa, Master Yoda, and myself. Master Yoda was the Grand Master of the Jedi Order, which at the time we were only certain of ourselves as members. I have found several since whom survived, but not many. Not nearly enough. It was decided that you would be split up, for two reasons. If the Emperor ever found and identified you as the child of Anakin Skywalker, then the other would possibly escape notice, and second, as twins, you had bonded in ways that were only spoken of in legends in the Temple. You would naturally amplify each other's abilities and become stronger together."

"Will I get to see her?"

"She is here, and soon you will. There is one other thing we must discuss, and that particular problem goes by the name of Jaina."

Luke looked at him, curiosity most evident in his expression, though the myriad of emotions that he was working through as he processed thoughts of his father and sister was there as well.

"Jaina is a Skywalker, of that I have no doubt, but she has been able to displace herself in time," he declared. "She is three-and-a-half, and your niece. Most amazingly, she has been able to melt the shell that has held up around Anakin's heart, so that he is seemingly whole again, but now, I have no idea what to do about any of it."

"I'm not sure what to say, Ben, or should I call you Obi-Wan?"

"It is what Anakin calls me. I do not think you could do with many more changes in your life than the ones you are already facing. You may call me whatever you feel comfortable calling me. I think Anakin will probably feel the same way."

"So, let me get this straight, a three-and-a-half year old who isn't even born yet, is here, and she's turned Darth Vader from the Emperor's Fist to what, Grandpa?"

"Something to that effect, yes. She is quite a handful, and very fond of you, it seems."

"What about her father, I mean she has to have one, doesn't she?"

"Well, yes, and she knows him, but, as is the habit of very young children, she doesn't know his name. She doesn't even know her own last name, which would probably be his as well, unless Leia found someone from some very strange place, though there are such places in the galaxy."

Luke sighed, figuring that he might as well get this over with. At least there was the possibility that he would get to know his father now. "I think I'm ready, or at least as ready as I'm going to be. I want to meet them."

"Very well. Let us inform Captain Solo, and we will return to Anakin's ship."

* * *

Anakin was torn with internal conflicts. Leia, his daughter, was here at his side now, and Luke, her twin, and his son, would be there shortly, and Obi-Wan, his brother in all ways but by blood, was trying to be helpful.

"Granda?"

He sighed, looking down at the slight form that barely came to his waist. "Yes, Jaya?"

"Unca Luke is coming; do you want to go meet him?"

"I think we can wait here for him," he informed her, eliciting a pout.

"But, Granda…"

"We can stay for just a little bit, Jaya,; it's not that far from one ship to the other."

"Yes, Granda," she said, sounding terribly resigned.

She sulked for the next few minutes, but quietly, and he brooded, and Leia simply stared out at the star fields, though they were artificial in this interior room on the ship. His private thinking room, this was one of the most heavily defended parts of the ship, by design. It was normally where a secondary command center was placed, but that had been moved to the captain's quarters, which were far too small to accommodate his hyperbaric chamber, though big enough for the function they now served. Other facilities had been sacrificed or moved to accommodate him as well, but not many. He only had three rooms: one that he used as an office, and that had his holoprojector in it as well, and his hyperbaric chamber, and then this room.

Luke was coming, Jaina was right, and he was confused, Anakin could tell. What about, he wasn't exactly sure, but he would find out soon enough. It was just about the time that he couldn't stand it anymore, for he was only slightly more patient than Jaya was, that he turned around and the door opened. Obi-Wan, who might be able to help him out of this mess, was the first through the door, followed by someone, someone who's blonde hair, and sun-darkened skin marked him as a native of Tatooine, and looking at him, there could be no mistaking who it was: Luke.

"Unca Luke!" Jaya screeched as she was off across the room at a speed that must have been Force-enhanced, and jumped into his arms, in a bound that almost definitely Force-enhanced.

"Hello," he said politely, once he recovered, but he took it good-naturedly, setting her to rights on the floor when she showed the slightest interest in not being right there in his arms.

"Unca Luke, tell me a story?" she asked, bouncing up and down.

"I can't right now, Jaina, maybe later?"

"Are you going to talk grown up now, too?!" she squealed, sounding outraged.

"Yes, and I think it will be quite some time before we are able to not do that for a little while."

"Unca Luke…" she whined, seeming to know exactly how to pull at Luke's heartstrings, because Luke, in spite of himself, knelt down and picked her up.

"You need to behave," Luke told her sternly, and she nodded as she rested her head on his shoulder. It was the first time since she had appeared aboard his ship that she was not firmly attached to him when she could be. Anakin looked over his son, who, now that he'd had the opportunity to think on it, did look a lot like him. Sandy hair, broad shoulders from years of working hard at menial labor, probably with his aunt and uncle on their moisture farm. He had been there only once, but it had been at a moment in his life that he wished not to remember, and therefore he could see every detail in his mind. Every nook and cranny in the rooms he'd paced through, his stepbrother's face, his stepfather's injury, the pain on the girl's face, the girl that must have been Owen's girlfriend, though he had been too distraught by his mother's death to think clearly. His mind had revisited that day often, that disappointing day, the day his mother had died.

"Anakin," he heard Obi-Wan said. He looked up at his old Master. "There is a day on which every person must die. It was her time," he said, and the words were spoken with the kindness of someone who'd lost too many friends, too many loved ones.

"Was it really, or could there have been something that would have saved her?" he asked, though it was more in self-torture than anything else.

"The will of the Force is sometimes beyond our ability to comprehend. If it was possible for her to have been saved, I am sure that you could have done so."

Anakin looked back at the projected star field, and everyone was silent as he brooded. Luke moved over toward his sister, and they quietly embraced, he could feel the Force flaring around them as they reconnected in a spiritual sense. He understood now why they were separated, and he wondered how much stronger they would have been, had they been allowed to remain together. They would have almost certainly drawn the attention of the Emperor. Separated, their powers were muted, a lack of knowledge of the Force to the point that it was almost criminal had let them fade into the background, at least so far as their Force potential was concerned.

He could lay the blame at no one's feet but his own, his own blindness to the Emperor's ultimate goal, his own desperation that he believed that he could stay the hand of death, when in reality he was the driving force. Whether or not he would have been able to save Padmé if he had not been injured on Mustafar was a moot point; he had been, and she had died.

"I am not sure that suffering could be construed as the will of the Force, Obi-Wan," he said finally.

"No, suffering is a product of free will. The Force may have a will, but we each have one of our own. Sometimes beings cause suffering to other beings, and life is difficult."

He was silent again for a long time. "I know life is difficult, Obi-Wan. I do not need reminded of that."

"Are you sure? It seems to me that you take the things that happen to you very personally."

"I…" he started, but he realized that Obi-Wan was right, "I do," he said turning back to the people who were gathered, who were, by blood or by trust, his family. "I am sorry for what I've put you through."

"Perhaps we should close this discussion for tonight," Obi-Wan suggested gently and he nodded.

"Don't be sad, Granda," Jaina pleaded from her perch on Luke's hip.

"I will try, Jaya," Anakin said, then turned to Obi-Wan, "Did you have anyone else aboard that ship?"

"Just the pilot, and his co-pilot, and the droids."

"The droids, I would like to see, but unless you think the others to be of consequence, they may stay where they are. The less people who are involved in whatever you plan, the better, I think."

"Whatever _I_ plan?"

"Well, yes. You don't think I could plan an assault on the Imperial Palace, do you?"

"Why there? That would be his stronghold, the hardest place to get to him. Does he ever leave?"

"Sometimes, but I am not informed of such unless he is on his way to see me."

"So planning an assault on a building when you aren't sure that he will be there is pointless. Let him come to us."

"Hmm. That could take some time."

"Patience is a virtue, Anakin."

"I don't like waiting."

"I don't say you have to like it, but if we planned something, you could possibly draw him out here, couldn't you?"

"I could find a way, but it would have to be subtle."

"We can work something out."

Luke interjected, "Where exactly are we, I mean, I know we're on your ship, but your ship is on what station?"

"The _Death Star._ A contrivance that Palpatine has been working on for twenty-five years or so," silence greeted his pronouncement. "I do not like this _thing._ It is…ostentatious."

"It's the Emperor's pet project?" asked Leia, who knew a bit more about it than the others did.

"Yes, I suppose it could be termed that."

"He's going to want to come see it, isn't he?" she asked again.

"Probably. He had a throne room put into the design of it," Vader answered slowly. "He might even want to be here for the first test."

"Will that be soon?" Obi-Wan asked.

"If construction stays on target with aligning the lasers, it shouldn't be more than about a week."

"What if there were delays, would that get the Emperor's attention?" Luke asked.

"It would. He would be quite unhappy, and probably come out here immediately."

"You see, Anakin, you wouldn't have to wait very long at all," Obi-Wan said. "Just one slip of one of your technicians could delay the project significantly enough to bring his attention here."

"I'm not sure I can do this," Anakin admitted. "I'm not sure I'm ready."

"Granda, you haveta do it, so we have you. I don't like it when you're blue, I can't touch you."


	9. Chapter 9

**AN:Well, to all the requests of Jaina yelling Daddy, can't really say yes to, but maybe this twist will keep you happy enough. Han's rather in a state of shock. Thanks for the encouragements to keep going on this fic, and I'll see what I can make out of it...I'm thinking this chapter is the turning point.**

* * *

Luke was uncertain what to say, but tried anyway. "What do you mean you can't touch him when he's blue?"

"Well, when you die you turn blue, and aren't around as much," she said, as though it were natural.

Luke shook his head, and looked at Ben. Ben said, "Well, she is right."

"You mean you really turn blue when you die?"

"Only a very few are able to accomplish it, but yes, I've met someone in the state she describes."

Leia was silent, but her thrumming presence in the Force comforted him. It had clicked in his mind, when they had touched. These were the voices he was hearing—this was his family. Knowing where the voices were coming from let him block them out more easily, as well. "What about Solo and the Wookiee?" he asked Ben.

"There is something about them, I am not sure. Perhaps they would be useful in the upcoming battle."

"They are not sensitive to the Force?" Vader asked.

"No, but they do have their own qualities, and they have good hearts."

Vader considered for a while. "Perhaps we could include them in our plans."

"Do you want me to go get them?" Luke asked.

"It would be unwise for me to be gone much longer from the _Death Star._ Perhaps it would be best for you to return to that ship."

"Can I go, too, Granda?"

"Yes, it would probably be easier if the two of you were not aboard the _Devastator._ I could leave the ship open for the crew, then, but quietly. I do not want to draw more attention than is necessary."

"I will see what sort of plan I can devise. Do you have plans for this _Death Star_ of yours?"

"The Princess has a copy."

Leia opened her mouth, then closed it. He was right, she did. "They are in Artoo's memory banks, access code protected."

"Oh. Well, that will take me about ten minutes to bypass, I believe."

"Triple level encryptions," Leia said.

"Oh, only triple. Well, five minutes then," he said, and his voice sounded like he was smirking.

Leia shook her head, and Luke followed her out to the hall, and they headed for the other ship. He put Jaina down as soon as they got into the hall, and she was off like a shot, though Leia's hand on her chest prevented her from going any further. "You will stay with the rest of us."

"But, Mommy, we get to go off the ship," she said.

"Yes, and you will go at the same time as the rest of us."

"Ok, Mommy."

He sighed, hoping that he could handle the sudden family he'd been given. Jaina was certainly a handful, and he was sure he was going to have problems with both Leia and Vader at some point. It was scary and exhilarating at the same time.

* * *

Han came out of the engine compartment when he heard the ramp to the _Falcon _lower. Chewie was a couple of steps behind him, wondering what was going on. "_This is the strangest situation you've gotten yourself into yet, Cub._"

"I didn't do this one; you did, if you'll remember right."

"_I didn't fly us past an Imperial space station._"

"Well, I didn't know that was what it was," he complained petulantly. The first person through the entryway was the old fossil that they were flying this run for, followed by the boy, Luke.

"Hello, Captain Solo," the old guy said.

"Sir," he replied.

"We will be having guests while we are aboard this station. Hopefully it won't be much longer."

"Alright," he said slowly, weirded out a little by what the guy was saying. There were footsteps on the ramp, and Vader came into view shortly, at the sight of which Han involuntarily took a step back, right into Chewie.

"This is our guest?"

"No, no, he's here for a short time then he will leave."

Han looked at him incredulously, but before he could come up with an answer, a beautiful young woman came up the ramp, her hand holding that of a very young girl. The girl gasped when she saw him, burying her head into the woman's waistline. Luke pressed the button to raise the ramp, as the woman crouched down to talk to the girl. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

"Unca Luke didn't say _he_ would be here," she said looking up at Luke as though he'd offended her, "You're going to take me away from Granda, aren't you, Mommy?" The young woman didn't look anywhere near old enough to be the girl's mother, but maybe he was getting old, and not judging her age right.

"No," she said slowly, "I don't know what you're talking about."

She changed the person she was pleading her case to, "Unca Luke, please don't let them take me away from Granda, please."

"Jaya, it's ok. No one is going anywhere," he said reassuringly. She moved over to him, hugging tightly around his leg.

"Then why is Daddy here?"

Everyone's attention settled uncomfortably on Han, including, probably especially, Vader's. "I don't know anything about this," he said after he'd let the silence go on for a while.

"It is not expected that you know anything about this," Vader said. "But you are the girl's father."

"Is this some side experiment that happened while I was in the Imperial Navy? Because I don't remember anyone like her having been in my bed," he started, and the look she was giving him was enough to make him stop.

"It's a trick of the Force. She's not been born yet," the woman told him, with a look that was evaluating him, testing to see what she thought of the idea of him having been Jaina's father.

"So, can I get introductions?"

"I am," she said, drawing up to her very short full height, "Her Royal Highness, Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan."

"Your Highness," he said, a bit of sarcasm tingeing his tone.

"That's not right, Daddy," the girl, _Jaya?_ said with a giggle from behind Vader. "You're s'posed to call her 'Your Worshipfullness.'"

"And what am I supposed to call you?"

"Jaya," she answered.

"Jaina Solo," Leia expounded upon her name.

"That was my mother's name," he said, a bit shocked. He was also starting to believe that maybe, just maybe, they were telling the truth, somehow.

"And now it is your daughter's."

"Are you mad at me, Daddy?" she asked suddenly.

"Why would I be mad?"

"'cause I ran away to Granda's."

"Well, I don't think that would have been the best thing for you to have done, do you?"

"But Granda loves me, don't you, Granda?" she asked looking up at Vader.

"Yes, Jaya, I love you very much. Enough that I will turn the galaxy upside down for you," Vader answered.

Vader was the Grandfather of the child he would be having with a Princess. He shook his head. He was dreaming. This was all a dream, none of it was real, and he would wake up, and they would still be on Tatooine, and he could talk Jabba into giving him a little more time to come up with the money that he needed to pay the crime lord back. "You've got to be kidding me."

"_Cub, I don't think you could get yourself into a bigger mess if you had tried,_" Chewie told him, and Jaina giggled.

"I suppose you speak Shriiwook, too, then, being my kid and all," he said to her, and she nodded.

* * *

Vader left his family, all of his family, well, except his stepbrother and his wife, who were still on Tatooine, on the ship which he had learned was called the _Millennium Falcon_, while he went to do some work, some of it relating to keeping them safe, and some of it routine things that had to be finished on time, or the Emperor would get suspicious. But that would be keeping them safe as well. He knew now that he wanted the Emperor suspicious, but only of certain things, only in a certain way. It was critical that they got this right. It was going to be difficult, but not impossible.

He stepped into the control room again. It was still empty, and he sighed in relief. He managed to erase everything from the time he left until the time he got back, replacing it with a repeated loop of time where nothing was happening. He was just finishing when someone came into the room, probably checking to see if he was there.

"Lord Vader," the man said timidly.

"Yes?"

"Are you finished, sir?"

"Yes. I have finished for the moment with that ship," he said, then he was suddenly inspired. The _Falcon _was just small enough that she would fit in the largest cargo bay of the _Devastator._ "But I would like it towed into the cargo bay of the _Devastator._ I have some other work I think needs done to ensure that we know everything about that ship. I will attend to the details personally."

The man gulped. Vader knew his reputation for how things went when he handled things himself. When he could be bothered. There usually wasn't enough time to do the things that he wanted done. "It will be done, my Lord. What bay do you want it in?"

"Cargo Bay One. It will take up most of the bay; you will need to move some of the Lambdas, they will fit in the other bays, though it will be a little tight."

"Yes, my Lord," the man said, and he went to work making the arrangements to have the ship placed in the cargo bay of the _Devastator._

* * *

Leia sighed as Jaina crawled into her lap, wanting her attention. "What is it, sweetheart?"

"I love you, Mommy. I'm sorry I ran away to Granda."

She stroked the girl's hair, giving her a hug. Han had gone to the engine room with the Wookiee; Luke had gone to one of the empty cargo bays with Master Kenobi. "It's ok. I think I would be more worried about you than angry," she mused, more to herself than to Jaina.

"Really?" Jaina asked.

"Really. Even if Winter had taken care of you from the time you were born, I would still be worried sick if you had taken off, as little as you are."

"Auntie Winter is the best. I love staying with her."

"Do you know why you were leaving?"

Jaina was quiet as she thought. "She said it wasn't safe for us where we were."

"Why?"

Jaina shrugged. "I didn't get told that, just that it wasn't safe any more. She was upset, so I asked what was wrong. That was what she said, that it wasn't safe for us any more, and you and Daddy were coming to get us."

"Is he really your father?"

She shrugged. "He's always been there with you. Sometimes he goes and does stuff with Unca Luke."

"What kind of stuff?"

"I dunno. Stuff for Mom Mofma," Jaina said.

"Mon Mothma, sweetie."

She sighed. "Her. She's sick, or something. You were going to start doing her job."

"What was her job?"

"Chief of State?"

Leia was quiet as she processed what her daughter was saying.

"Mommy?"

"What?"

"You're thinking loud."

"I'm sorry. I'm not used to this whole Force thing yet."

"Oh. Unca Luke keeps saying he wants you to learn the Force. You never have time for him, just like you never have time for us."

"I'm sorry, baby, I don't think it was ever my intention to neglect you to the point where you thought that Vader was a better choice as a parental figure than I am," she said, swallowing hard.

"It's ok, Mommy, I think Granda is great. He's always loved us, even when you don't like him."

"Why wouldn't I like him?" Leia asked, curious to see what Jaina had to say about it.

"I dunno," she said, shrugging. "I think he hurt you."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because there used to be a hole inside you where you feel, about him, and it's not there anymore. I wouldn't have seen it if it hadn't been so different."

"It's that different?"

She nodded. "I love Granda, and he loves me back. I want Granda with us always."

The plea melted her heart once again, and she didn't know how to answer the question implied therein: was she strong enough to ally herself with Vader, and risk her father's wrath when she came home?

She knew the answer even before she had fully formed the question. The man who had once been Anakin Skywalker was her true father, and though he hadn't had a hand in raising her, he was trying to do what was right, for her. Surely her adoptive father would understand.

She was still thinking, probably loudly, when the ship started to move. It was not long before everyone was crowded into the ship's lounge, and she didn't have much room, and she was in the midst of the other's voices.

"What's going on?" her brother asked.

At nearly the same time, a nearly panicked, "What's happening to my ship?" came from Han.

"Rest easy," Obi-Wan said to both of them. "Anakin is having the ship moved inside of his. It will be less conspicuous there. Out of sight, out of mind."

She relaxed, and she knew Luke was doing the same. "I don't want anyone touching my ship," Han said. _So stubborn_, she thought. _How did we stand each other long enough to fall in love?_

"Your ship will be unharmed," Obi-Wan assured him. "It will take some time for this to be over with. Perhaps it is time for some rest, so that we may start again when this is over."

"Sure, Ben," Luke said, and he headed off in the direction of the cabins.

"Leia, you would benefit from training as well, I would like for you to join us this afternoon, if that is possible," Ben said.

"I'll watch the kiddo," Han volunteered, surprising her.

"What about Granda?" Jaina asked. "shouldn't I go see him?"

"At some point today, you will see him again, but it probably won't be until late," Leia answered her. "Did you want to spend time with your Dad?"

"I guess," she answered, sounding resigned.

"I'm sure he's really a lot of fun."

"Chewie's more fun. Can I go with him instead?"

"Why not go with both of them?"

"Ok, Mommy," Jaina agreed, trying to stifle a yawn.

"I think it's time for your nap."

She looked like she was about to protest, but she yawned again, and Leia carried her to one of the cabins, laying her down and tucking her in. "Tell me a story," she begged as she curled up to take her nap.

"What kind of story?"

"Aunt Winter used to tell me stories about Grandpa."

"Why would she do that?"

"She missed him. I don't remember what happened, but he died, and it made everybody sad to talk about where you guys were from, Alderaan?"

She realized then who Jaina was referring to, and she smiled. "You're talking about Dad, Bail, right?"

"Uh huh," she replied.

"Well, let me see," she said, stroking her daughter's hair, trying to think up a story that would be suitable for someone so young. "A long time ago, when Dad was very young, he met a beautiful woman, a Princess, and her name was Breha," she started.

* * *

Obi-Wan was certain that this was the worst disaster that he'd ever had to dig Anakin out of. Mustafar had been only the beginning, and his eldest, _only_, granddaughter, had banished twenty years of heartache nearly instantaneously. He settled his mind in the way that Qui-Gon had been teaching him. He smiled at the thought. Qui-Gon had helped him to understand that he really hadn't done anything wrong, except not to see the Sith Lord in front of his own face. That had been the most painful part, realizing that he had permitted, even encouraged, a relationship that had ultimately lead to Anakin's fall to the dark side.

The ship had finally settled into its new home aboard the _Devastator, _and he was preparing for lessons with the twins. "So, what do you want us to do, Ben?" Luke asked him, his bright eyes curious. He looked so much like Anakin before Palpatine had exerted his influence on the young boy.

"You both need to learn meditation. It is easy enough to start, but difficult to maintain. Meditation requires you to still your mind," he started, easing them through exercises that their father had found torturous, but he'd still tried as hard as he could. They were more mature, but it meant that they were also more set in their mindsets, less open. It could be difficult.

The quiet of the ship was helpful; they were somewhat isolated from Han and Jaina, as well as Chewbacca, and their ship was inside another ship, which was mostly empty, and inside an empty cargo bay of the _Death Star_. Slipping into meditation himself, he started to teach them how to draw on the Force, both to balance themselves, and to use.


	10. Chapter 10

Vader was smirking behind his mask, though his posture was schooled to be as it always was. He wasn't about to give Tarkin another indication that he was acting out of character. "What have you found out about the ship?"

"It was abandoned shortly after takeoff. I was planning to slice the computer, but it will take me several days to see if there is anything useful there."

"What about the Princess, could she have been on board that ship?"

"It is doubtful. I can further interrogate the crew of the Tantive IV, if you like."

"Do so. I want the plans for this station to be found."

"As you wish, Tarkin. I will have the prisoners transferred to the Devastator."

"Don't you want to interrogate them here, aboard the Death Star?"

"It will be more convenient to have them aboard my ship, since I sleep there. But I could torture them here."

"Well, if it's just a matter of convenience," Tarkin said. "You won't mind only having one up there at a time, will you? I would rather not spread my guard out too much."

"I have brig guards for my ship. It wouldn't have to change your routine any at all."

Tarkin finally conceded the point. "I'll have the prisoners transferred. Your crew will deal with them if they escape."

"They won't escape," he said, and turned and left, satisfied that he'd won this particular encounter.

He went to the office he'd been assigned while he was on board the Death Star. It was actually rather convenient, because if he'd been in his office on the Devastator, he wouldn't get anything done. There was something to be said for having an office where his children and grandchild couldn't reach him.

* * *

Luke worked with his sister on the exercises that Ben had assigned them. They were both in pretty good shape, but lightsaber combat was one of the most physically and mentally taxing exercises he'd ever run across. "That's not the way you taught me to do it, Unca Luke," Jaina said after watching them for a while.

"How did I teach you to do it?" he asked her, crossing his arms after he deactivated his lightsaber. It was really his father's, but he wasn't sure what exactly to do about that. Leia was using Ben's, since it was the only other one they had available.

Jaina jumped up and grabbed the lightsaber, but didn't turn it on. She seemed used to practicing with it off, so he permitted this. She went through the motions of attack and defense, but as she had said, they were different from what he was practicing now. "I didn't realize I was putting all three of you through training," he heard Ben's dry comment from behind him.

"Master Obi-Wan," Jaina said respectfully.

"Who taught you Ataru forms?" he asked her.

"Unca Luke," she said, glancing at him as she said it.

"Ah, well, then. Right now, Luke and Leia are learning Shii-Cho forms. I don't suppose you know those, do you?" Jaina shook her head. "Well, then, why don't we go find something so that I can fashion you a practice blade with while they do their forms?"

She nodded, handing Luke his lightsaber back and taking the Jedi Master's hand in her slight one.

He looked at Leia, shaking his head again at how easily the child beguiled even such a hard-hearted man as Obi-Wan Kenobi. Considering that, he had little hope against her. They went back to the intense training in silent harmony.

* * *

Vader was tired after a long day catching up on paperwork, but he had moved through it with a purpose, and that was protecting his family. He had set himself a goal, and having finished that, he'd gone on a personal tour of the facilities that housed the laser targeting system, and he had initially been dismayed at how the system was protected from accidental harm, but once he was past his initial shock, he started to see tiny flaws in the system that he could exploit. It would be possible to make something happen where he would not be directly blamed. He would be blamed anyway, that couldn't be helped, but if he didn't seem directly at fault, he could delay an argument with the Emperor until he had other people there to help take him down.

There was one of Tarkin's guards waiting for him outside his ship, and he made his way over to the man, to see what he wanted.

"Lord Vader, sir, the prisoners have been transferred back to the _Devastator_."

He remembered then that he'd requested that Tarkin return the crew of the Tantive IV to his brig. "Very well," he said, and continued on to his ship as the man hurried off to his own duties. Men under his command knew they served at their own risk, and that if they did well, he would reward them. Men who were not under his command feared him as the inhuman creation that the Emperor had intended him to be. It had been weeks, since Jaina had found him, since he'd killed anyone. He was sure that the crew must have been much relieved that he had found her presence such a distraction, though he was sure that they were keeping on their toes even more than usual. He thought he should perhaps check and ensure that they were in top form once they were off the Death Star.

He boarded the Death Star, and checked the brig to ensure that the prisoners were at least relatively unharmed, and that they were all accounted for, and under guard. He checked the guard roster, and seeing that everything was in order, he headed for Cargo Bay One.

* * *

Han was watching Jaina, not sure what he expected from her, but she was a fascinating person. She didn't seem to have any trouble expressing her opinion that he and her mother were her two least favorite people on the ship. Vader and Luke seemed to be fairly even in her consideration of favorites, and even Chewie ranked above Mom and Dad for her. It wasn't that she actually disliked either of them, for she seemed to get along fine with both of them, but more that she didn't trust that they wouldn't 'take her away.' Not that there was anywhere to go at the present, being inside a ship that was inside a ship that was inside a space station.

"What are you drawing, kid?" he asked as shapes began to emerge from the color sticks onto the paper he'd been able to scrounge up.

"Granda's ship," she said, indicating a blue, vaguely triangle shaped object.

"And what's this?" he asked, indicating something black.

"Granda."

"What about that?" Han queried, asking about another figure.

"It's a Jedi."

"One in particular?"

"No, just a Jedi," she said, and she drew more similar figures.

"Do you know some Jedi?"

"Some. There's Mara who came to see us with Unca Luke once, and Katarn, and Corran," she answered, still coloring.

"How do you know so many Jedi?"

She shrugged. "There are more out there. Unca Luke was talking about setting up a school, and I was going to get to go, except," she stopped coloring, and folded in on herself again.

"Except what?"

"I came here. Can I still go to Jedi school here?"

"Well, we have a teacher and the common room can be your class room, so I guess this qualifies as a school. You just have to share the old fossil with Luke and Leia."

"Ok," she said, picking up green color stick, and drawing a figure that looked like the Jedi. She gave this one brown hair.

"Who's that?"

"Corran," she answered.

"Why does he get to be green?"

"He wears green robes."

"Why?"

She shrugged. "He talks like you."

"What do you mean he talks like me?"

"Granda talks like Unca Luke. Mommy talks like Aunt Winter. Corran talks like you."

"You mean he's Corellian?"

She thought for a moment, and then said, "Yeah."

* * *

Vader didn't quite understand the loosening of tensions throughout his body as he approached the ship that held his family, but most especially the ones closest to his heart. He walked up the ramp, and had anyone who did not belong to his crew asked, they would have been told he was doing very thorough searches of the computer databases to see if this ship could be connected in any way to the Rebellion, and any other piece of information he could dredge out of it.

Vader, his crew would have said, took the emptiness of the ship personally. Him taking things personally tended to get people killed. Anyone asking about the ship would have been warned to keep a good distance from it, too, just in case Vader thought someone was taking an improper interest in something that was already upsetting him.

But the crew knew the score. No one had said anything about Jaina, not to him, and not to anyone outside the ship. They talked among themselves, but ship gossip was impossible to stop or even exercise any measure of control over, and they had apparently come to the conclusion that Jaina was a good influence on him.

They were right, but it brought many more questions to the surface, and no one had yet gathered the courage to ask him. He could feel the undercurrent of questions when he spoke to his men, but he didn't have any more answers than they did, so he avoided the questions entirely, and his crew avoided asking them.

"Granda!" he heard as he was about halfway up the ramp, and he braced himself for her exuberance. She propelled herself into his arms, and he caught her, and the ice around his heart that had built through the day melted into oblivion, and she chipped away at the permafrost around his soul.

He held her tightly as she started excitedly chattering about her day, how Obi-Wan had worked with her to fashion a practice blade, and how she was going to be in 'Jedi School' with Luke and Leia. He only half listened to her, just savoring her soothing presence. "Granda, you're not paying attention," she chastised him.

"I'm paying attention to the most important part."

She giggled, "What's that?"

"The part where you're in my arms, and in my heart."

"Granda," she said, "But what about what I'm talking about?"

"If it's important, tell me again, and I'll listen this time, I promise."

"It is important," she insisted.

"All right, then," he agreed.

* * *

Luke was working through the velocities, as Ben called them, with Leia at very low speed. They were both new to the whole Jedi thing, but both of them felt comfortable enough with the first couple of series of velocities to test them out against each other. They worked through the sequence once, then again. "Want to speed up?" his sister challenged him.

He nodded, not to be outdone by her enthusiasm. "Sure, a little."

"Just a little?" she teased, but as they set into work, it became apparent that neither of them was ready to do more than just a small increase in speed. It took so much of their concentration that they didn't hear Jaina squeal and launch herself headlong down the ramp at her grandfather, nor any of the subsequent conversations.

Sweat was pouring off of both of them by the time they were done with their second series, and Leia put her hand up. "Enough."

"I would have said it was enough an hour ago," Obi-Wan commented from the doorway.

They turned, looking at their audience, which included Jaina and Anakin as well.

"You are your father's children," he said with a sigh. "Go clean up before you both start smelling like a herd of bantha."

"Yes, Master Obi-Wan," they said together, and then they giggled.

"I don't deserve them, you know," he heard their father say.

"If you can make things right with the galaxy, perhaps you will change your mind," Obi-Wan said.

"Perhaps," he agreed, sadly, still not believing.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Sorry it's been so long since I updated this, or, for that matter much of anything. Thanks to **general-joseph-dickson, **Wolften, **Teresa, **Lupis Lunae, **ILDV, **drmcatcher, **Rain Everwood, **Lluvia-the-Wolfgirl, and **Shinen no Hikari **for reviewing.**

* * *

Vader was having second thoughts about the plan that Obi-Wan had come up with, but he wasn't sure why. The plan itself was something out of Obi-Wan's classically elegant strategy closet: cause one of the crystals that made up the matrix to be misaligned just enough that it shattered the next time that it was tested, it shattered. The misalignment required moving the crystal three millimeters; it wasn't a big enough shift to be noticed by the human eye, but the technicians were supposed to check the alignment before they tested the crystal matrix, and they would be lax, and the crystal would shatter. All that was left was for him to immediately put the technician under arrest, and contacted the Emperor.

With the combined strength of himself and Obi-Wan, as well as the raw talent of his two children, they were sure that they could overcome the Emperor, and that Palpatine would be brought to justice. It had been a week since they had formulated the plan, and he had yet to execute it. Palpatine knew that he didn't care for the Death Star, so having someone he could readily blame would ease the Emperor's suspicions, especially since he could manufacture the footage, with the use of a little Force persuasion, showing the man in question brushing his hand against the crystal that had exploded.

The witless scientist would be totally ignorant of the role he was playing in saving the Galaxy from the Emperor, necessarily so. It wasn't that Vader didn't trust the man; it was that he couldn't. Should it come to the point that the Emperor wanted to talk to the technician before he and Obi-Wan were ready to spring their trap, there was no way that the man could hide his thoughts from the Emperor, because he was an open book for Vader. He'd been moodily brooding since Obi-Wan had laid the plan out, and as he had walked the corridors of the Death Star, he thought about how much his life had changed, how different things were since the bundle of energy and love that was his granddaughter had appeared in his life.

The crew of the Death Star steered clear of him, but his crew, the _Devastator's_ crew, they found him even more approachable, even though he was moody and almost despondent at the thought of killing the Emperor. It wasn't as though he thought that the Emperor should live, but the thought that he'd wasted nearly twenty years of his life, time that he could have spent with his children, and, perhaps his wife. The story that Obi-Wan had told him; how she'd seemed to have simply given up on life entirely when he'd turned on her on Mustafar, it had hurt. Had he really driven her into the very fate that he had been trying to protect her from?

His feet had taken him back to the cargo bay of the _Devastator, _back to the _Falcon._ "Anakin?" he heard from the interior, Obi-Wan's voice, "Is something the matter?"

"Not more than usual," he answered, and Obi-Wan gestured him inside.

They sat in the small lounge and he let Obi-Wan lead the conversation. He wasn't particularly in the mood to talk, but he wasn't quite in the mood to refuse the idea either. His relationship with Obi-Wan was on shaky ground as it was, and he didn't want to make it worse, but he wasn't quite ready to actively try to make it better on his own initiative, either. "You seem rather unhappy about something," Obi-Wan said. It was more of a question than a statement, but he could have told Obi-Wan it was none of his business, but they'd known each other for far too long, and it was Obi-Wan's business, more or less.

"This plan, it doesn't seem right somehow."

"What do you think is wrong with it?"

"I don't like the idea of sending Luke and Leia to fight the Emperor with so little training."

"I don't like it either, but I don't know that we have much choice, either. If the Emperor were to discover any of us here, it would mean the death of all of us, you included."

"I've been thinking about that. The Death Star's crew avoids me like the plague."

"You are a man of quite some reputation, Anakin."

"That is true, but _Devastator's_ crew isn't avoiding me."

"I see," Obi-Wan said, stroking his beard. "Why do you think that is?"

"Jaina. They know about her, she's been quite attached to me since her arrival, and while no one said anything, she's not exactly invisible, in fact I don't think she knows HOW to be invisible."

Obi-Wan smiled. "Well, I could see how her arrival and the impact on your behavior would have been connected in your crew's minds. Perhaps we can use that to our advantage. Your crew is, now, perhaps loyal enough that they would risk more for you than most people would. You would have to talk to them, of course. Do you have any way to occupy yourself at an extremely far point in the galaxy while we trained Luke and Leia up to a suitable standard?"

"Yes," Vader said slowly, "The primary objective that I have at the moment is to hunt down and destroy the Rebel Alliance," he said, excitement starting to creep into his voice, "That usually takes me to the Outer Rim, and I have the crew of the _Tantive IV_ aboard the _Devastator_, so if I were to say that one of them finally broke under the torture that I was supposed to be having them under, but haven't had either the time or inclination, especially if it were time sensitive, such as if they didn't report back within a few more days, that the base would be moved on a schedule, so that even if we did break someone, the location that they would tell us is already abandoned."

"And chasing after the small bands of Rebels could keep you occupied for quite some time, especially if you were to make small amounts of progress along the way."

He nodded, thoughtful, though the sadness he'd been feeling earlier was still there. "I'll think about this, and see if I can find anyway this would be…difficult to implement."

"There is something else bothering you," Obi-Wan told him, and he settled back into the chair across from his old mentor once more.

"I am having trouble reconciling the life I do have with the life I could have had. Sometimes I wish I could have learned to trust you, more, earlier."

"None of us had any idea what Palpatine was doing to you. If I'd had the least inkling, I would have kept you away from him, no matter what protests you had. It was my responsibility to see how you were changing, and to attempt to discern why, and I didn't do it. I failed you, Anakin, and I'm deeply sorry."

"I know that this is probably the best time to correct this mistake, but somehow, I wonder what would have happened if I had listened to anyone but Palpatine when the time came to decide the fate of the Galaxy. I failed my duty as a Jedi, my friends, my wife, and myself. I gave myself over to slavery willingly so that I could save her, and that very act was the one that killed her."

"Anakin, I cannot tell you that for sure; it's possible that she would have died anyway. There are times nothing can save those we love, and there are times that we can. Looking back with regret is only going to make you sad, Anakin. The only thing we can do is try to live in the present and make the future a better place."

* * *

_Kriffing idiot sister, _Jacen thought as he flow-walked through the past. The present, his anyway, was a wreck of twisting time eddies and it was devolving into a complete unstable mess. He could move around in the past just fine, but even that was becoming more difficult. He was coming close to pinpointing the moment that Jaina had disappeared from his time. He almost-remembered it, meaning that somehow, time had changed, in a way that was permanent and difficult to change.

He was twenty-two, a grown man even by his parents' standards, and the almost-memories were beginning to become more and more real, alarmingly so. What he'd learned from the Aing-Tii monks had become increasingly important, and they told him that someone had done what he'd been taught never to do, and that was to step fully into the time that they were looking at. His newfound power was the reason and the cure. Whether he could retain that power once he figured out what was going on, after he fixed time and it stopped destabilizing, he didn't know, but the monks had told him that he was the one who must do it; they could not stop what had happened, and since it was his sister he was starting to lose memories of, they thought it was likely that she was the one who'd created the problem in the first place.

He watched from further 'back' than he usually did. It was morning, and he was three, as was his twin, and his baby brother, _Anakin—_the name rang through his head with the fresh pain of his death—was two. He opened himself up mentally, trying to get a feel for Jaina's state of mind, and he realized that he had been watching this scene from another perspective. His older self disappeared as he watched, and Jaina realized it. It was something his older self should have realized, but hadn't. _Who's the idiot now?_ he asked himself caustically. Winter, his mother's sister came in, and he felt himself stiffen as her emotions washed over him. He listened to the conversation with agonized interest as he figured out _why_ Jaina had disappeared.

The emotions of his three-year-old twin were clear enough, as was what she had decided to do. That she could do it at all surprised him, but he supposed it shouldn't have. She'd gone somewhere that had included her grandfather. His grandfather. Who would have been, depending on how far back she'd traveled, a Sith Lord. It was more likely than him being a Jedi, and even more likely than him being a slave. He'd been all three in his life, but he'd been a Sith longest, and most recently. Well, not technically, but the short time between when he'd saved Uncle Luke and when he'd died hadn't been more than about ten minutes. That memory was fading, and he wasn't sure what was replacing it, but it seemed to include his grandfather living through the experience.

He sighed, trying to figure out when she could have headed to. _This is going to take _forever, he thought.

* * *

"Granda!" the word was lavished lovingly on Anakin's person. Obi-Wan smiled, as he was of the opinion that this was a good thing for his brother.

"Yes, Jaya?"

"I love you," she said, crawling onto his lap.

"Anything else?"

"I missed you," she told him. "I wanna show you something," she grabbed his hand and pulled him off in the direction of the front of the ship as she remembered something that now required his immediate input.

He laughed and let her pull him off. Obi-Wan sighed contentedly and settled in to wait for something else to happen. There was sure to be something; he was in the presence of four Skywalkers, after all.

* * *

Leia found herself alone after her shower; she had been working out with her brother, lightsaber velocities. She hoped it would be enough to help them help their father and Obi-Wan to fight the Emperor; she understood that they would be little more than targets, but Obi-Wan had been working with both of them teaching them to deflect and absorb things coming at them with the Force; the Emperor enjoyed throwing Force Lightning around, and if they could take that weapon away from him, they might stand a chance of doing something more. They would need to stay alert, but it mattered to both of them that they could stand beside their father as he restored the balance to the galaxy.

The thought was one of hope, and she clung to it, closing her eyes for a moment at the intensity. She heard and felt something—someone around her, and she turned to find that Han Solo, the man she'd been avoiding since she'd learned that he would be the father of her children, stood in the doorway to the small cabin she was sharing with her brother. She had felt more at ease with that arrangement than sharing a cabin with her young daughter, who'd been able to talk the resident Wookiee to let her bunk with him. She had no fear that Chewbacca would keep her safe from harm, and she was beguiling enough to charm the shirt from a dirty politician. Not that there was much of a chance nowadays that any politician was less than corrupt. Except for the several members of the Senate who were also members of the Rebellion. Even that didn't guarantee that the politician in question was actually honest. Unfortunately.

But that thought brought her back to Han. There _had_ to be more to him than the gruff, cavalier exterior that he showed everyone, or she wouldn't have…whatever she had done with him. That was part of the problem. She didn't know what he was, who he was. "Hey," he said softly. She smiled at him.

"Hey," she said back.

"I've been wanting to talk to you," he said, hesitant, uncertain.

"I've got a little bit of time," she said, sitting down on the lower bunk. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Well," he started, still standing uncomfortably, though he had moved inside the room, "I was thinking, you know, about Jaina, and what that means to me, and for me," he said, and the look in his eyes was raw, unformed. She opened herself up to the Force, to see if she could read his feelings. It wasn't need or lust, though that was there at some level, but hope, hope that maybe there'd be more to his life than there had been to this point. He was content, but content was a long way from happy.

"I've been a little busy, but I've given it some thought myself. I don't know what to think about Jaina. She knows she's loved, but knowing that she's wanted is something else entirely, and I can't figure out what must have been happening for me to send the three of them off with my sister for so long that she doesn't want me around anymore."

"Yeah, I'm curious what would be happening that it would make sense to me for my kid to be away from me. Obviously we made the decision together, so I must've agreed." She was…surprised…relieved…she didn't know to sense that the idea of being a father was…attractive to him.

She sighed. "I don't know, either. Though I think I need to get to know you a bit better. You don't seem like the kind of man I would even accept a drink from, much less marry and have three kids with."

He looked down for a moment then back up at her. "I'm sorry you feel that way, Your Worshipfulness," Han said, and Leia realized what she'd said, or rather not said. She could feel his hurt, the rejection he was feeling and hiding it by getting gruff. He started for the door.

"Han, wait," she said with a sigh. "That's not what I meant, or rather it's incomplete."

"I'm waiting," he said, his puzzlement apparent even without the Force.

"There has to be more to you than the smuggler you show the rest of the world, and I want to get to know that man. Obviously, I fell in love with him or Jaina wouldn't be here."

"Oh…I'm sorry. I'm used to being kicked to the curb, I guess. Chewie and his family have been the only beings in the galaxy to accept me for…well, me. Of course I've been with women before, but there's only been one that I'd say I loved," he said.

"What happened?"

"She left me for your Rebel Alliance. I don't even know if she's still alive or not. After that I gave up on that kind of relationship, especially with someone like you…" he trailed off, and she could feel the emotions he didn't have the words to express.

"I'm really not all that special," she said softly. "I've never really felt like a princess, and now I understand why. I have a lot to think through before I even start to think about what to do about you," she smiled at him, trying to soften the blow the words would have. He didn't say anything in return, and she stood.

"I've got to meet Luke for some more Force lessons."

"They're pushing you two awful hard, aren't they?" he asked, seeming relieved for the change of subject.

She nodded, "Yes, but if we are going to be ready to help face the Emperor down we need all the training we can get, and the sooner that creature is wiped from the face of the galaxy, the better." Her voice was cold, not with anger or rage, but with certainty of what was to come, and her determination to face that challenge, even if it killed her.

"Well, I don't want to hold you up," he said and moved aside so that she could reach the door.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine," she said as she stood up, and he tentatively rested his hand on her shoulder. She patted his hand, trying to reassure him, and giving him tacit permission to enter her personal space.

"I only wish I could believe that," he said, and she smiled at him again.

"Luke and I have this Force thing down pretty good, and Anakin and Obi-Wan are old hands at this, so we at least have a fair chance of success."

"A fair chance?"

"Well, we are going up against the Emperor. I sure with the four of us, he won't survive the experience. The problem is going to be making sure that all four of us survive."

"I don't like the idea of you going up against the Emperor."

"I don't like the idea myself, but I also understand that there needs to be someone there besides Obi-Wan to protect Anakin. He's the most vulnerable of all of us, because he can't just catch Force Lightning with his hands."

"Can't he use his lightsaber? Isn't Obi-Wan teaching you that, as well?"

"I'm not sure. We'll just have to see how it plays out."

A loud noise came from behind them, and she whipped around, because there shouldn't have been anyone else in the berth. She was looking at, to all appearances, Han Solo's little brother. Built along the same lines, lanky without being skinny, brown hair—lighter than hers or Jaina's, but still, there was something…odd about him. "Kriffing h—"

"Jacen Solo, I presume," she said scathingly, interrupting the curse, and he blushed. He had to be older than she was, at least he looked it, but she was still his mother.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN:Gosh, so many reviews, after I practically abandoned this story. Not on, purpose, I just got busy, and disorganized, and finals hit, and...well, you know.**

**Unfortunately, the semester starts Monday. Fortunately, I have this ready to go. I also think I can get one more chapter of something up by Monday. I think. We'll see. That's the goal anyway. **

**Thanks to **monkyluvr, **star-fire-dreamer, **whateveritis12, **Cocoa Girl2, **Beth Weasley, **Jedi Angel001, **Teresa, **general-joseph-dickson, **ShortySC22, **ILDV,** phaorah,** and ****Saimhe** **for reviewing, especially those who are first reviewers.**

**To Teresa:The plan is to 'stuff' Palpatine relatively soon in the story, next few chapters, though story-time it's going to be six months or so. Haven't gotten much more lined out, though. More Jedi Masters, though...for sure. Han will probably feel very out of his league before long. **

* * *

Han looked the boy over. He couldn't deny that he looked like he was firmly related to the Solo line; brother or son, it was actually a toss up in his head. The kid rolled his eyes, and Han's temper started simmering. "Good job, Mom, you figured out who I am. I need to get Jaya back to when she belongs so that her presence doesn't cause any more harm to time than it already has," he said, and that almost-business-like tone would have sold any lesser mortal, but he could see that Leia wasn't buying it, and even at the relatively young age he was now, he didn't either. He had an agenda, and that made Han suspicious of anything he wanted with his young daughter, even if this peedunky was his kid too.

He was currently detangling himself from a crash net—Force only knew how he'd gotten caught up in it, and that made his evident irritation even more pronounced. Leia looked at him. He could see her irritation—whether that was directed at Jacen interrupting their conversation, or at Jacen himself, he wasn't sure. "Go on, I'll take care of this one," he told her quietly.

She nodded in acquiescence, and headed out the door to join her brother for whatever lesson they were getting from Obi-Wan. After she left, and Jacen had himself detangled, he asked, "Where's Mom going?"

"She and your Uncle Luke are doing something with Master Kenobi," he said, getting a perverse sense of satisfaction out of the look on his face, "And we are going to go talk to your grandfather."

"But," Jacen started.

"No, no, I know, you want to get your sister back to when she belongs, and I don't say that I blame you, but the problem is she's become quite attached to him, and I think if you try to take her away without discussing it with him first, you're going to have a problem."

Jacen sighed, and nodded. They moved out into the hall, heading for the lounge where Han had last seen the two of them, with Jaina showing Vader the drawings she'd done earlier. "Granda," he heard his daughter's delighted squeal.

He heard Jacen groan softly.

* * *

Vader was busy tickling his granddaughter with the Force, mostly because he felt his gloved prosthetic hands to be inadequate for the task, when he felt a flash of anger. It wasn't his, and after a moment he realized it also wasn't anger, at least not quite, and that it was coming from someone who was as well-trained as a Jedi Knight. There was a tinge of familiarity about the Force-signature, something he couldn't quite put his finger on, but the proximity meant that he would find out soon enough. He let Jaina go, and she caught her breath. "Granda!" she shouted to him joyfully, attacking him with her tiny hands, ineffective through his layered armor. "You aren't tik'lish," she complained after a moment.

"Someone is here," he told her seriously, and she looked up.

"I don't see anybody."

"I feel them through the Force."

She concentrated. She was used to feeling people through the Force, so it wasn't particularly taxing. "Old Jace," she pronounced finally.

"Ah."

"Granda," she squealed as he resumed tickling her.

He heard someone clear his throat, and he brought Jaina into his chest, cradling her tightly as she caught her breath again. He looked up, finding Han and what looked to be a slightly younger version of the same. "Solo," he said by way of greeting for the father of his granddaughter.

"Sir," he stepped back a little, which allowed him a better view of his grandson. He took the opportunity to look Jacen over carefully. "Someone decided to drop in while I was talking with Leia."

He nodded. He wasn't quite prepared to interfere with that relationship, especially considering that if he did, he might have to give up Jaina for the privilege. "Jacen," he said, and the boy nodded.

"I have been sent by those who trained me. It is my duty, since I permitted others to learn to flow-walk by a lack of care in my choice of times to observe, to return Jaina to her proper time to stop the destabilization of time."

If Vader hadn't been tuned into the Force, he might have taken Jacen seriously. The boy had inherited his mother's talent for hiding his feelings from those around him, and that was probably useful to him most of the time. Unfortunately for Jacen, his grandfather could feel the attitude that the boy held toward this particular duty. He saw it as a waste of his time and a burden, and while he did feel duty-bound to take care of the mess that he'd created, he didn't really _care_ that it had been his fault completely that the situation had come about in the first place.

It was an attitude that he was familiar with, and he knew where it could lead, because he had presented an attitude remarkably similar from the time he was knighted until he became a Sith. He was The Hero With No Fear, and had the attitude that came with it. The same attitude Jacen had right now. "No," he said to Jacen, and he could feel the boy almost visibly restraining himself from rolling his eyes.

"The longer she remains here the more damage she causes," Jacen said reasonably. Vader's eyes narrowed to slits as he felt the truth of the statement. While it was true in the absolute sense, it applied only to the future, not to time itself. Since she was already here, she would not create any sort of rift or any of that nonsense, not unless she were to do something really dumb, like meet herself. Not that she could, at this point. He was somewhat surprised that he could read Jacen's surface thoughts, but if there were no actual Jedi to help Luke when he set up a new Jedi Order, then it wasn't particularly surprising that a good deal of knowledge was lost. And while Jacen was the son of the daughter of a Jedi, perhaps that was as much of a disadvantage as it was an advantage.

Just as being the Chosen One was for him. "She has done more good than you can possibly imagine, young one," he said, much to the consternation of the young Jedi. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must attend to something."

Vader moved past the two Solos and headed for his Master and his kids. "Grandfather," Jacen said, but Vader didn't slow down. He followed, but Vader paid him no mind.

Jaina was still snuggled into his chest, just to the right of the plate that controlled his breathing. She had never tried to touch the buttons there, and it made him wonder just a bit, but he was thankful nonetheless. "Granda?"

"Yes?"

"Are you gonna let Jace take me away?"

"Not today, Jaya. I think you should eventually go back to your proper time eventually, though. You miss Anakin don't you, and Winter?"

She thought about that for a moment. "Yes, but I would miss you more."

"Perhaps we can settle it so that I can be there with you."

She snuggled into his chest more. "You could maybe be there all the time, Granda?" she asked curiously.

"We shall have to see," he told her. It was her naptime, and she needed reassurances rather than reality, if he expected her to sleep.

"Ok, Granda," she said, and he gently pushed her mind in the general direction of sleep, not that she wasn't headed that way already, but he wanted her far enough gone that when he was talking to Obi-Wan, she wouldn't wake. She'd become used to his presence when she was sleeping, and he thought perhaps the vibrations that carried through his body from the breathing regulator and vocalizer lulled her into a deeper sleep.

* * *

Obi-Wan started his lesson for Luke and Leia with something much slower than he'd been intending that morning. If he was going to have time to train them properly—which he heartily agreed with having, he just hadn't thought he was going to have a choice—then he was going to do his best to actually train them properly. And that mean that he needed to teach them meditation, because meditation would help them both focus more readily, and control their emotions more easily.

They were sitting on cushions, drawing lightly on the Force, and paying close attention to their breathing. That was the first step to meditation. He felt his brother, his former pupil heading in their direction, and he got up quietly, letting them continue to attempt to meditate, and he exited the room they were using. It was one of the smaller cargo bays, but it wasn't being used for anything else at the moment, so Captain Solo had offered it up as additional space for training.

"Anakin," he smiled warmly at his friend. "The twins are meditating."

"We have a problem," he said without preamble. Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, but just waited for him to continue. He didn't; he turned so that a young man who had been following him was now visible. His resemblance to Han was obvious, but Obi-Wan could see where Skywalker genes had hardened some lines and softened others.

"Well, if this is the biggest problem you can come up with, Anakin, we are doing very well indeed," he said. The young man didn't say anything, though he seemed to want to and be restraining himself.

"I have a meeting scheduled with the command staff at seventeen hundred. I'm sure at least one problem will crop up then."

Obi-Wan nodded. "Well, if the problems there can be kept to a minimum, then we should be well prepared for what comes next," he said, and after a few moment's pause, he asked, "So, why is this young man a problem?"

"He wants to take Jaina away."

Obi-Wan nodded. He expected that her presence would affect the future, though he wouldn't have been able to predict exactly how. "Well," he said, turning to face the object of their conversation. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"I need to take Jaina back to when she belongs so that the destabilization effects that she's having on time are minimized. In fact, I was trying to find the moment in time she first appeared here."

"Well, that was several weeks ago," Vader said, "But I think you are exaggerating the effects her presence is going to have on _time_, Jacen_._ Your own present, perhaps, but I think that if it were going to cause some strange effect on time, that would have happened almost as soon as she came into the past, not weeks later."

"As I said," Jacen said, sounding almost like his grandfather when he was trying to explain something he felt was completely obvious, "I was trying to find the moment when she arrived. Something strange happened."

"Strange?" Obi-Wan prompted.

"I fully entered the past without intending to."

"Hmmm," Obi-Wan said stroking his beard. "I don't imagine you've tried leaving this time have you?"

"No, sir," he said, "It would take me an hour or so to get that far into meditation."

"Well, I think it would be worth our while for you to try. If you can't do it, then I think that will mean either that you aren't supposed to be moving about just now and you may not be able to take her home, or that the Force wants you here for some reason."

It was reasonable, but Jacen seemed irritated, probably by the very reasonableness of the suggestion. It was a very strange reaction for the boy to be having. It was not unlike the reaction he would have gotten out of Anakin, not long after his knighting, not long after he decided, or had been told so many times that he had believed it, that he was so far above the normal Jedi that the rules no longer applied to him. "I believe that is a good idea," Jacen told him, no evidence of his irritation in his voice or mannerisms. _Interesting. I see why he could potentially be a problem,_ he thought, and though he didn't realize it, the thought tracked down his link with Anakin.

_Yes, I thought so, as well. I can't believe how arrogant I was, when I was his age. Only seeing it as it mirrors my own attitudes through my grandson do I see clearly how much of a fool I was when I was that young._

_Well, a Sith Lord was grooming you to become his personal pet, and your face plastered across every HoloNet channel in the most obscene ways. _

Anakin's mental snort accompanied his next comment, and the derision was quite apparent in his caustic tone, _Yes, the Hero With No Fear, indeed. I can't believe I actually bought into that, even though I realized it wasn't true. _

_You've always been more prone to following your emotions than your logic. I should have realized that about you sooner._

_It's not your fault,_ Anakin's words came gently, _but we need to focus on what to do with the one who's following the path I was. I fear for him, if something isn't done._

_Too true,_ he replied, and then returned his attention to Jacen, who was oblivious to the short conversation that took place across bonds that he might be able to sense, but since Obi-Wan could detect nothing similar in his mind, probably didn't even know to look for. "Well, let's see about finding you somewhere quiet to meditate," he said with a small smile.

* * *

Jacen settled into meditation, as he was dutifully supposed to be doing, but part of his mind was wandering. It wouldn't affect his ability to successfully flow-walk, if indeed he still could, so he let the small corner of his mind contemplate what had happened in the last hour. Everything had been going so perfectly, so smoothly. He'd pinned things down to about the time of the Battle of Yavin. It was the moment that time was currently being reckoned by anyway. The day, the very day that the battle of Yavin should have been, he had homed in on his mother's presence, expecting her to be commanding a fleet of small ships battling the Empire, preparing to abolish the Death Star. His father should have been long gone, his mercenary tendencies from those early days still in full force, though he would be back in a crucial moment in that battle to swat his grandfather's ship away from his uncle's—in the process saving Luke's life and allowing for the complete destruction of the Death Star. Obi-Wan was supposed to be dead, at Vader's hand. No one was supposed to know that his uncle and his mother were brother and sister, and the obvious affection that his father had been showing his mother was supposed to be carefully concealed behind a cavalier attitude and a caustic mouth.

And his mother wasn't even supposed to know she had Force-potential. He couldn't even begin to imagine the changes what had already happened were going to wreak on his present. And he had absolutely no clue if he could fix it. Jaina was going to be another problem. She was attached to the idea of having their grandfather around, and, truth be told, he could see the appeal of it. He was, when he wasn't busy being a Sith, a caring, adoring person.

And she trusted him absolutely, and this was the one person in the world no one should have trusted. He'd turned his back on all that was good, and no one even really knew why. He'd had a wife, two kids, his former Master, Obi-Wan who had, to all accounts, even at the time of his death, still loved him.

He didn't understand how Vader could so completely enthrall her, but he had, and unless he was very careful, he was not going to be able to get her home, and that would make things so utterly nonsensical that he couldn't imagine what it would do to his present. His _twin_ would be the better part of ten years older than him, of course, that was provided that she made it through the first three years of her life without creating any sort of time rift.

It was one of the reasons that flow-walking was only supposed to be done by those who were fully trained—so that they could get back without causing problems. Not that they were actually supposed to enter the past or the future that they were looking at. It was supposed to be within the realm of possibility, but unless one wanted serious problems, it wasn't advisable.

He settled his mind down as he started to intensely concentrate on the task at hand.

* * *

Luke finished his meditation with Leia and Ben. Ben had been impressed with how well they had done, and now they both had some free time. Luke was hoping that his father would be available so that they could talk. Flying, mechanics, whatever. Reality had intruded on what he'd learned as a young boy, but he still saw his father through the eyes of a son, and he was honest enough with himself to admit it.

He was sitting in the lounge, not sprawled, precisely, but definitely not prim and properly upright. As an undertone to the ominous breathing that was supposed to scare the poodoo out of anyone, he thought he could hear snoring. Jaina was curled up on his chest, cradled by one arm, and the other laying over her. She, too, was fast asleep, and he grinned at the thought of how much harm the image would do to the carefully cultivated image of the fearsome Sith Lord. He didn't think that his father would mind terribly at this point, but, until they destroyed the Emperor, it would be unwise to have people thinking he was wrapped around the little finger of a pre-school girl.

"Father," he said, trying to shake him awake. Vader snorted, and jerked. He'd obviously been deeply asleep, and that was probably a good thing, in Luke's opinion, but he was also likely to come up sore if he slept like that for long. "Don't you know better than to fall asleep in a chair?"

"I sleep whenever I can. It's not often that I can sleep deeply enough to get actual rest," he complained sleepily. He got up, adjusted the position he was holding Jaina in, and headed off to the cabins. He settled Jaina down in the bunk she had been given, and covered her. She was still sound asleep, but he knew from experience that she'd be up in an hour, maybe less.

"I wanted to talk to you," Luke said.

"What about?"

He shrugged. "I don't really know. I haven't had the chance to just talk to you."

"Oh," Vader said, and thought for a moment as to what would be something they could talk about. "Well, when did you first learn to fly?"


	13. Chapter 13

**AN:Another day, another story. I'm trying to get caught up on other stories while I am "researching" Mara Jade. Working on fixing Shadows of the Sith in that regard. The weepy imposter Mara is leaving to be replaced by a more rounded, strong Mara. To that end, I am reading my second Star Wars book: Allegiance. I might read the Heir to the Empire Trilogy after that. I really like Zahn, and I'm only on page 40. **

**So, in the meantime, since I am forbidden by my beta writer to do anything that involves Mara until she "becomes a real person" inside my head, I am trying to get back into everything else. If you read Shadows, you might check on some of the already published chapters, where I am correcting the mistakes of my inability to write her. She should come through more strongly now. (Still not actually finished with this, but should be soon.) **

**Kg31goddess(and anyone else who is wondering):Yes, I do plan to finish this story. **

**HyperCaz: Please don't die! I love all my readers, and I am trying to get these stories finished. Even to the point of leaving several half-formed ideas in the pot so I can work on these and get them finished before I start posting more stories. **

**phantom-jedi1:Yes, wreak, not reek. Good catch. **

**Thanks everyone else for reviewing, all 15 of you(this chapter)! Enjoy!  
**

* * *

Jacen moved toward the meditative state that would allow him to flow-walk. It was troublesome that he hadn't found the proper time to pull Jaina out of, but if he had to, this would do. Unfortunately, the effects on his present would be potentially devastating. He might not be able to go back, or at least not go back and remember. His memory was getting fuzzier, especially on details as to the end of the Empire. It was like he wasn't supposed to remember what had been before, and he couldn't remember what hadn't happened yet for him. _"Hello, Jacen."_

He'd spoken with Force ghosts before, and he didn't recognize the voice, because all of the Force ghosts he knew were currently alive. He tried to ignore the voice, but it was persistent. _"Jacen, you will not be able to get out of the past until you have accomplished what the Force has directed that you do. Do you not listen to the Force at all, boy?"_

He sighed, secretly agreeing with what had been said. "I try because Master Kenobi has asked me to."

"_Obi-Wan has his moments. But that is not why you try."_

"What do you mean?" Jacen asked, his temper flaring slightly as he realized that the Force ghost was questioning his motives. He opened his eyes, realizing that the ghost would not leave him alone. Long dark brown hair starting to go grey, haloing a face that should have been slightly tan, though now it was the forever-twilight blue of a Force ghost, with eyes that had been blue in life, a mustache and beard, he was tall, and wore traditional Jedi Robes was what greeted his eyes.

"_You are trying because you fear to lose what you have, whether or not what is coming is better."_

"Is what is coming better? And how would I know if it was?"

"_What does the Force tell you?"_

Jacen always found that to be an irritating question, asked by people who didn't have a better notion than he did about what he was asking. "Don't you know?"

"_I have a fair notion, but if you would listen to the Force instead of the fear babbling inside your head, I think you would actually have a better picture than I do. Much that goes on in the Living World is inaccessible to those who have joined the Force."_

Jacen thought it intriguing that the Force ghost admitted to ignorance, and his advice was sound. Emotions did tend to get in the way when one was trying to listen to the Force. "Perhaps I can see what the Force is trying to say before I attempt to flow-walk again."

"_That sounds like an excellent idea. I will leave you to do that,"_ the Force ghost told him, and left.

Jacen was highly irritated by the Force ghost's insinuations, and the fact that he hadn't even bothered to introduce himself. But he had said that he would attempt to listen to the Force before he tried flow-walking again.

* * *

Vader strode into the conference room where he was meeting the senior officers aboard the _Devastator. _All were already in attendance; a testament to his horrific temper. "There have been changes recently aboard the _Devastator,_" he said. The officers looked at one another, but said nothing. "And I feel that it will be unfair to you to continue making changes without your full consensual cooperation."

Mulchive Wermis, his captain, spoke first. "You mean that girl? I think we can all agree that she has a soothing influence on you."

"Yes, I am sure that can be agreed upon. Her influence is strong enough with me to even make killing a spineless worm like you an odious task. But, if you insist, I can still perform that task if necessary."

Wermis paled, and stammered, "N-no, that will not be necessary."

"I will require assistance from all of you, as well as the crew members in all of your departments to perpetrate a fraud the level of which has not been seen since the inception of the Empire. According to my plan, the _Devastator_ will go to the Outer Rim and begin finding and destroying Rebel Installations. We must manufacture evidence sufficient to keep us out there for the next six months to a year."

"Wait, are we to understand that you want us to fake evidence of Rebel Installations so that we can pretend to blow them up so that we can stay in the Outer Rim for a year?" Captain Bolvon—the captain of his landing troops—asked.

"That is correct."

"Why?" Bolvon asked, sounding completely astonished.

"I have considerations other than my granddaughter. It has come to light that her parents and her uncle are also alive, and they have come to the _Devastator_, though not as willingly as Jaina, or perhaps more correctly, not as intentionally. They will remain aboard this ship along with another instructor and will be trained in the way of the Jedi. At least my children will. Jaina's father is not Force-sensitive."

There was an initial wide-eyed look of apprehension from the men, but then they began to contemplate the true meaning of his words, at least the ones smart enough to connect the dots. The rest would either get with the program, or they would die. He could afford no mistakes in this high-stakes game of cat and mouse with the Emperor. "I will stand with you," one of men said, this one being a young Lieutenant, Piett.

One by one they stood, agreeing to take on the burden of helping a man who maybe, just maybe, could learn to do something more than hate and hurt.

* * *

Luke was walking through the _Falcon_, intent on his search for Obi-Wan, and didn't realize there was someone else in the hallway. "Hey, watch where you're going," a younger, unfinished, Force-sensitive version of Han Solo said.

"Sorry," Luke said, raking his hair back from his face. "Hey, do you know where Ben is?"

Jacen scrunched his face in confusion in the same way that his mother would, and it was then that Luke recognized who he must be. "Ben," he said, taking Jacen by the arm, "You know, Jedi Master, friend of my father's?"

Luke saw an image in his mind, like a memory, briefly. There was a redhead with a blonde boy, perhaps four, and him. And he was smiling, and happy and laughing. "Oh, that Ben," Jacen realized, shaking Luke from thought of the strange image. "He's down in the cargo hold that you guys have converted for training with Mom."

"Thanks, Jacen. Where are you headed?"

"Dad needed something from the back to make some more permanent repairs. I was telling him about some more effective bypasses for some of the components he can't pull right now."

"Didn't Father and Ben have you doing something?"

"I'm finished with that," Jacen stated flatly. "I told Dad I'd help him install this."

"Ok, no problem. I'll just go catch up to Ben. See you later, Jace."

"Later, Uncle Luke," Jacen muttered more to himself than to Luke, and headed for the engine compartment where his father was waiting for him.

Luke headed in the opposite direction, finding Ben working with Leia on a move that looked difficult. They were practicing in the room that he and Ben shared, while Leia and Jaina slept in the third compartment. She looked up at him and smiled and he smiled back, some of the tension that he'd been feeling since leaving Tatooine releasing itself. "Looks like you're having fun."

"I'm doing ok," she replied. "Dad's probably worried about me, though."

"Perhaps there will be a way to get a message to him. What do you think, Ben?"

"I don't know if that would be a good idea or not. We can ask. I suspect that the answer will be no, because the more people that know what is going on outside the ship, the greater the possibility of something getting back to the Emperor."

Leia conceded the point. "I know, but I'd at least like to let him know that I'm alive. And I would like to get the plans for the Death Star back to him."

"Hmmm. Anakin might allow it. You just have to ask."

"Allow what?"

Leia looked up at Vader, who had just walked in, and took a deep breath. "I want to do two things. First, I want to let Bail know that at least I'm alive, and safe, if that's possible. Second, I want to get the plans for the Death Star to the Alliance."

Vader considered. "I do not like the Death Star, or the Tarkin Doctrine, which advocates its use for intimidation. If the Alliance can figure a way to get rid of that menace, I would be pleased to let them. I hadn't thought about it. You may record a message to go along with the plans, nothing specific, just that you are alive and well. If you like I can look over the plans and see if I can find a weakness that the Alliance can exploit."

"That sounds like an excellent idea, Anakin," Obi-Wan said. "You are good at such things."

"I agree. The Alliance has technicians, but an extra pair of eyes wouldn't hurt anything," Leia told him.

"How did your meeting go?" Obi-Wan asked

"They agreed. All of them."

"Good," Obi-Wan said. "We will put off confronting the Emperor for the moment, concentrating on your training," he said to the twins.

"Good," Luke agreed, knowing they would get a more complete picture of what was going on later. "Now we just have to figure out what to do with Jacen."

"Easier said than done, son. He is very much like me, and you don't know how badly that scares me."

"Like you how?" Leia demanded, sitting on the lower bunk.

"He is reckless, careless, arrogant," Vader started. "He doesn't think that the rules apply to him the same way that they do for everyone else."

"Oh," she said. "I don't know if I can do something about that."

"Not now, but perhaps by knowing to be on the lookout for these things as you raise him, you may be able to teach him otherwise."

She nodded. "But what are we going to do with him in the meantime?"

"Soon, we must let him accomplish what he came into the past to do. Jaina must be returned to her time," Obi-Wan told them.

Sad at that prospect, Leia nodded. Luke laid a hand on hers, and he said, "It will be ok, she's going to be born soon enough anyway, I think."

"I can agree," Vader said, "But I don't like it."

"She will be better off in her present, Anakin."

"Yes, but I don't want to let her go."

"You'll have her back when she is born, to spoil in every way possible. I am sure that you can think of many ways to spoil her."

"Yes," Vader told them finally. "That will be acceptable compensation."

"Don't forget your grandsons, too," Luke said, grinning.

"Alright. Don't turn me into a grandfather before my time," he warned them, "I'm going to go look at the Death Star plans."

"Did you want to use the copy here?"

"Yes, but not here, I'm going to my quarters."

The door to the room opened. "Granda," a squeal of delight issued from Jaina.

"Hello, Jaya," Vader said, turning and picking her up. "I have to go and do some work. Do you have some training to do with Obi-Wan?"

She nodded and laid her head on his shoulder. "Are you going to send me back now?"

"Soon," he said, "But I promise that I'll be there to visit you, and love you and spoil you every day if you go back."

"And Jace and Anakin will be there?"

"Yes, your brothers will be there, but I think you will always be my favorite," he said and she threw her arms around his neck.

"I love you, Granda."

"I love you, too, Jaina," he said, hugging her tightly.

* * *

After Vader put some time in looking at the plans for the Death Star, and caught up with some other paperwork, he headed off the _Devastator _and back to the main bridge of the Death Star. When he arrived, he found Tarkin, as he had suspected he would. "One of the Rebels has broken and given me the location of a Rebel installation. It is a small one, on Dantooine, but they are planning a strike on Ord Biniir."

"Soon?"

"Yes. I will be taking my crew and ships there now."

Tarkin nodded. "They are still not giving you any information on Senator Organa?"

"No. She has disappeared, it seems."

"That is your priority when you finish with the Rebel base on Dantooine."

Vader turned to go, not acknowledging what Tarkin said. "And the Emperor will be here in three days. I hope you can return by then."

He stopped short, his mind racing. "It will not be a problem."

* * *

Leia took Jaina to see Chewie for a while, he was in the cockpit, but he had finished checking the equipment. He seemed to adore her, and she seemed comfortable with him, so it worked out well. She wasn't sure what to think about a full-grown warrior taking care of her only daughter, but then she wasn't sure what to think about the same daughter liking Darth Vader better than she liked her mother.

"Chewie!" she said, excited once again to see the Wookiee.

"Do you mind watching her for a little while? Our father will be back soon and we have a lot to discuss."

He shook his head, and motioned Jaina over. She started chattering as she climbed onto his lap, and he was apparently perfectly happy to show her how the ship worked. Leia felt a tiny stab of jealousy as she realized that her daughter would never be forced into roles that were not her own. She would be a pilot, a Jedi, but never a prim and proper politician. "Your mother would be proud of the woman you've become Leia," she heard Vader's voice behind her. "I think I can dig up some footage of her at the Senate for you, but Bail Organa probably has more."

"I've seen some of it. She was an inspiration to me, even before I knew who she was to me."

"You are beautiful, confident, and compassionate. I don't imagine there are many nineteen year olds who possess those qualities. You are much like your mother in your ability to argue your point. Bail Organa did well in teaching you to do as your mother did."

"I never wanted to be a Princess," she confessed to him, not even sure why she wanted to right then.

"You would have always been a princess," he contradicted her. I don't know if you would have gone into politics, but your mother was Queen of Naboo. A term as Princess of Theed simply because your mother was who she was wouldn't have been out of the question. You are sharp witted, and you understand the structure of politics."

"If nothing else, if you had been raised by us, you would have been my princess. Don't think of your adopted titles as burdens, Leia. They allow you to be in a position to change things."

"I wondered when I was younger what my real parents were like."

"Look at Jaina. She is what I was like before I was touched by the hard realities of the universe, and look at Jacen, and that is what I was like after."

"What about our mother?"

He considered for a moment as he walked into the lounge and she followed. "Artoo," he called, and the droid beeped. "Do you still have recordings from the Clone Wars?" Artoo confirmed that he did, and queried Vader as to what recording he wished to watch.

"Geonosis," he declared, "That is a good place to start," and Artoo used his miniature holoprojector to display a very different Padmé Amidala from the stately woman who stood and watched in the Senate as the galaxy changed.

"Look, whatever happens out there, follow my lead. I'm not interested in getting into a war here. As a member of the Senate, maybe I can find a diplomatic solution to this mess," came a voice from the holorecording as Luke came up behind Leia. The image was from the interior of a small ship, and Padmé was preparing to depart.

"Don't worry," a voice outside the pickup sighed, "I've given up trying to argue with you," with that the ramp opened and the young senator and an even younger Jedi exited the ship.

There was the sound of mechanical whistling, then she heard Threepio's distinctive complaining tone. "My sad little friend. If they had needed your help, they would have asked for it. You have a lot to learn about humans." The camera panned around to Threepio, while Artoo fussed about leaving them to their own devices. "For a mechanic, you seem to do an excessive amount of thinking. I'm programmed to understand humans."

There was more beeping and Threepio answered the question, and rather hotly. "What does that mean? That means I'm in charge here!" The camera panned around again, Artoo obviously not thinking that to be the case. "Wait! Where are you going? Don't you have any sense at all?" Artoo blew a raspberry in Threepio's direction. "How rude! Please wait! Do you know where you're going?"

The complaining continued as the two droids made their way into the factory, where thousands of droids were under manufacture in an assembly line. Several Geonosians had attacked Padmé and the as-yet-unidentified Jedi. Threepio's complaining stopped as he got separated from Artoo, and Artoo maneuvered over to a control panel, and they watched a vat dump out Padmé and the Jedi was under attack in a different part of the factory, and was pinned into some sort of metal contraption.

It wasn't long until the two of them were captured. "How embarrassing," Threepio said from the sidelines.

"That is not all that happened on Geonosis, Artoo." Vader admonished.

"You never were very good at rescues," a familiar voice said.

"I got enough practice saving you," Vader responded.

"Pashaw…nine times isn't practice, it's a hobby," Obi-Wan said, coming into the room and sitting down.

"My memory isn't that bad, it was ten," Vader said, Leia watched bemused and awed that these two REALLY had been friends. Close friends.

"I told you before, Anakin, that business on Cato Neimoidia doesn't count...embarrassing..."

"Only for you, and stop blaming Cody for that incident. You did it to yourself."

"It was Cody's fault," Obi-Wan insisted.

"For finding a viable route into the fortress?"

"That was not a viable route."

"Only the fact that you were so drunk kept us from catching Nute Gunray. Otherwise he would have been gone then and I would have slept better at night without him there to make death threats at my wife."

"Wait, what are you guys talking about?" Luke asked finally, wanting the full story.

"Well, I suppose we should start at the beginning," Vader said, "The First Battle of Cato Neimoidia was fought between clone warriors and droid warriors, for the most part. Cody was Obi-Wan's Clone Commander. He was a High General and on the Council after I was Knighted, and that was before this, so I was a General, and a Knight. We had Kit with us, too, didn't we?"

"Master Fisto was at that battle, though he had the good sense not to follow clones where no reasonable person would go."

"He was on the Council as well, so he was a High General."

"Mind you, this was about a month before the inception of the Empire, so about a month before you were born," Obi-Wan said to the twins, and they nodded.

"So we had chased Nute Gunray from one end of Neimoidian space to the other, and we almost caught him several times, but he escaped our grasp barely that time."

"We had fought our way through countless battalions of battle droids, and several of droidekas, vulture droids and some of the other specialty droids, to a fortress."

"And under the fortress, which was a really bad design flaw in their security," Obi-Wan started, but Vader interrupted him.

"Well it worked didn't it? I would call those fungus a security measure."

"I deflected a blaster bolt, harmlessly, I thought, into the fungus growing on the walls of the caves under the fortress."

"And then you inhaled the spores of the fungus, and it got you rip-roaringly drunk, and I had to take care of you. I had to keep you from getting yourself killed."

"As I do recall, I did take down a number of those droids."

"And I came in directly behind you and kept the rest from shooting your unprotected back."

"For which the galaxy was quite grateful, I assure you, Anakin."

Leia looked at her brother in wonder, and he looked back at her with a nearly identical expression.

* * *

It was several hours later, and Jaina had gone to sleep before the adults, Jacen included, settled in for a serious discussion of what was going to be happening. Chewbacca had decided that it wasn't really any of his concern, and had gone to the engine compartment, leaving only Obi-Wan, the Skywalkers and the Solos to discuss the fate of the galaxy.

"I need to get Jaina back to her time and get back to mine."

"I agree, Jacen, but I fear that there is something you need to do first," Obi-Wan said.

"What?"

"Well, I don't know, but there is something. You said that you weren't able to flow-walk, at all?"

"Yes," Jacen admitted. "I don't know if contact with Jaina is going to improve that or not."

"We can try that at some later time. For the moment, we need to go destroy a Rebel Base on Dantooine, and then I need to return to the Death Star to meet the Emperor," Vader said.

"We can probably see about this flow-walking while we are destroying that Rebel Base of yours," Obi-Wan said.

Leia gave Vader a hard look. "The last time that there was a Rebel presence on Dantooine was six months ago."

"Does that matter? Would you rather I be a little hotter on their heels?"

"No," she agreed. "Just try to keep it looking like we actually have something when we don't."

"My entire command team has agreed to help us. They will assist in manufacturing evidence of Rebel activity. I do have a slight problem, though. We need to determine what to do with the crew of the _Tantive IV,_" Vader said.

"You could allow them to return to the Rebellion," Leia said immediately. "As a sign of trust. We could send the Death Star plans with them, and the message to Prince Organa."

"We will need Rebel prisoners, though, people who could be produced at any moment to say the right things, whatever they need to say at that particular moment," Vader said.

"Perhaps it would be better to get volunteers for that sort of duty. It is a high risk activity, and you would need people who could resist the Emperor's mental probes," Obi-Wan said. Vader nodded, thinking.

"And we could rotate personnel if we needed to, and get messages back and forth between us and the Alliance," Leia said.

"Maybe it would be a good idea to go to the leaders of the Alliance with this," Luke said, startling everyone. "This will need to be a decision that we make with their help."

"Yes, and your presence will be difficult while I return to the Death Star," Vader told them. "Perhaps you could persuade them while I deal with the Emperor."

"Hey, I'm not entirely sure I want to get this involved with this cloak and dagger nonsense," Han said.

"Dad...you know you care more than you let on and there's no point in hiding it. Jaina and I put the lie to it." Han scowled at his son, then headed down to the engine compartment. "Don't worry about Dad, Mom, he really does care, he'd just rather pretend he doesn't have feelings right now."

"Do you have to antagonize him?" Leia asked Jacen and he shrugged.

"I didn't think I was. He's usually not this touchy," he said, frowning. "I think I know what the problem is now that I think about it."

"Thinking is obviously something you don't do enough of, Jacen."

"See, there was this girl, and I think Dad was head over heels for her, and she died just before the two of you met."

"What happened?"

"She left him for the Rebellion, and she died on a mission for them. I don't know many details, I'm sorry. I always got the impression that it was hard for him to talk about even after you two were married."

"And being a very highly placed member of the Rebellion isn't going to go well with that in mind."

"No, I rather got the impression that he spent a good deal of time convincing himself that he was either not in love with you or that he wasn't good enough for you. If things had been left alone, it would take eight years for the two of you to marry, and another three to have us, and Anakin," he paused with a frown. "But that future isn't going to happen now."

"What happened to Anakin, Jacen?" Leia asked, gently, because she knew that this had to be a touchy subject.

He turned hollow eyes on her. "He died. He did what he should have as a Jedi Knight, and he died, and I think that most of us that were there would have rather die than see him go."

Obi-Wan spoke up then, "Jacen, I realize that you feel responsible for his death; he was your younger brother, and I know that you would have felt it your duty to protect him, but if he was a Jedi Knight, then he had accepted that he was always at risk, and he gave his life in defense of others."

Jacen swallowed. "I don't see how you could know anything about him, what his motives were, anything."

"He was a Jedi Knight and a Skywalker," Obi-Wan said. "It would have meant more to him to see those he loved safe than to think of his own safety."

"He was only sixteen," Jacen seethed. "He shouldn't have been there, and what could you POSSIBLY know about my family! You died six days ago," Jacen yelled, and shook off Leia's hand when she tried to keep him from leaving.

There was silence for a few moments. "I'll go talk to him," Luke said, and he started to get up.

"No, Luke, don't. He needs time to calm himself. It still hurts him a lot, and he hasn't worked through the pain of his brother's death," Leia advised him, and he nodded.

"I wonder what was going on that you were knighting so young," Obi-Wan mused, and Vader nodded.

"I was twenty when I was Knighted, and most of the Council was against it due to my age," Vader said.

"It was not because of your age, it was because your attitude bore a marked similarity to Jacen's."

Vader nodded agreement to the point, surprising Luke and Leia. "Do you believe that it will be possible to convince the Rebellion to cooperate with us?" he asked, returning to the main topic of their conversation.

"I hope we can, Anakin," Obi-Wan said, "But I fear that this may be a fool's errand."

"It may be, but it is a necessary one, I agree," Vader said. He had a sudden thought. "I may be able to help with your credibility though."

"You cannot go with us," Leia started but he cut her off.

"That is not my intention," Vader said. "I have access to many supplies, and among those are various articles of clothing, and supplies to put together lightsabers. Leia will need one."

"Yes. Looking the part wouldn't hurt our cause," Obi-Wan said, stroking his beard. "Do you feel it safe to look over this clothing now?"

Vader nodded. "I can see what we can find in storage. Would you like to come?" he offered, and Obi-Wan nodded.

"I believe that would be acceptable."


	14. Chapter 14

**AN:Here is another chapter, all nice and shiny and new. And for those of you who are wanting Jacen, there will be total angsty Jacen next chapter. I think. if that section stays put. dunno, sometimes they get up and wander off. **

**Thanks for the reviews everyone, and PrincessAllana, if I didn't get back to you with details about Anakin's death, remind me and I'll give them to you shortly, as well as there being some stuff where Jacen thinks about it and where he talks to Anakin/Vader about it. **

* * *

Bail was excited as he waited for the admittedly less-than-beautiful ship land. He was on Yavin IV for a brief time, organizing some business with the Alliance since he was such an active part of the inner workings. He took in the details of the ship, and it appeared to be a heavily modified YT-1300, but his knowledge of ships was less than stellar. Not that anyone outside of his immediate family would likely notice his agitation. He schooled his expression again as it crept up nearly into a smile. The ramp descended, and he wondered about who had been aboard. There had been no verbal communications, but the input codes were for his daughter and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Because it was both, the ship had been allowed to land without further query, though anyone who knew was itching with anticipation.

A single figure stepped out, a smartly dressed Corellian, who had, apparently, earned first class Bloodstripes. He stood at attention next to his ship as others disembarked. There were four, and they were dressed in old-style Jedi robes, or at least cloaks. Four Jedi together was a dangerous thing, or so he'd been led to believe. The first two of them lifted their hoods, and Bail was staring into the faces of Obi-Wan Kenobi and his daughter. She hugged him tightly, but didn't say anything. It hadn't been that long since they'd seen each other, but much had apparently happened.

"Master Kenobi," he said, extending his hand.

"Viceroy Organa. I have a great deal of news, we should talk."

"If you would follow me," he said, curious about the other Jedi Obi-Wan had brought with him, and out of the corner of his eye, he caught several members of the crew of the _Tantive IV_ departing the ship. He turned to watch, and saw a Wookiee take up station across from the Corellian. He shook his head, wondering what was going on, but he assumed it would all be explained soon, and led the Jedi to a small conference room.

"Would you like refreshments?" he asked as they entered the room.

"That would be good," Obi-Wan said, removing his robe, which apparently gave the other two permission to do so as well. "Things have changed dramatically in the last three weeks, Bail. The Order and all those who have the possibility of being trained in the way of the Jedi need to be gathered to determine what force we can bring to bear against the Emperor."

"Leia, are you included in this?"

She took a deep breath, giving him a hard look. "Yes, I've decided to be a Jedi."

"I see..." Bail said, this was the moment he'd been dreading since taking Leia in.

"Father?" she said.

"I'm sorry Leia, I knew this day would come, I just thought it would be later...but its been nearly twenty years. I fear for you, but I've never been prouder. Now, may I be introduced to your other companions?"

"Jedi Knight Jacen Solo, and Luke Skywalker."

Bail nodded, barely looking at Jacen, but taking his time with his examination of the appearance of his daughter's twin. He did look very much like his father had, before he had betrayed everything he had once held dear. He shook his head, deciding business was to come before family. "Very well. Do you know how to determine some one's Force sensitivity?" he asked, returning to Obi-Wan's need to gather potential Jedi.

"Midi-chlorian counts. Five thousand or above is sensitive enough to be trained as a Jedi."

"Do you know the midi-chlorian counts of your people?"

"At this juncture, that is really unimportant. Luke and Leia were never tested, and Jacen is already a fully trained Knight."

"I was never tested," Jacen said.

"Very well," Obi-Wan agreed, taking the comment in stride. "This room is secure?"

"Yes, of course," Bail said, and Obi-Wan put his hand up, searching through the Force for listening devices, and finding none, he nodded. "You said that there had been some changes in the last three weeks."

"Ah yes, so I did," he said, sitting back and templing his fingers. "Anakin Skywalker has been persuaded to join the Alliance to Restore the Republic."

"Are you certain?" Bail asked, standing up at the surprising news.

"The House of Solo stands behind the statement," Jacen said quietly.

"The House of Solo no longer exists," Bail said, turning his attention to the young man, who was apparently as prepared to deal in the realm of politics as he was in the realm of the Force.

"It does exist," Jacen said. "And is in many ways the reason for this coming about. I am a direct descendant of Berethron e Solo."

"Can you prove that?" Bail asked.

"I do not carry the documentation with me, but it can be done. Though there was a time that the word of a Jedi was not questioned." Obi-Wan shot Jacen a sharp look, and he sat back, and schooled his expression into nothingness.

The interaction wasn't lost on Bail. Jacen might not look anything like Anakin Skywalker, but he had the same dangerous attitude. Bail took a long look at him, memorizing his features for later consideration. "Well. I will take that under advisement. The house of Solo was at one time very prominent. You should be proud of your heritage, Knight Solo."

Jacen's eyes flicked to Leia, then back to Bail. "I sometimes wonder if having great ancestors sometimes sets one up to be a future disappointment."

Bail realized that the comment wasn't directed at him, but some aside with Leia or possibly Obi-Wan. The Jedi's passive-aggressive attitude spelled more trouble in the future. He made a note to mention it to Obi-Wan before the latter left. "I understand completely. What do you need from the Alliance to make this happen?" he returned his attention to Obi-Wan, and the plan to destroy the Emperor.

* * *

Vader turned his attention to his command staff. "We have a Rebel Base to find and destroy, and an appointment to meet with the Emperor in three days."

"With our guests gone, it should be simple enough. We have a rendezvous with them in two weeks," Captain Wermis reminded him. "But we are going to be doing this one from orbit, no landing troops."

"Yes. There is little enough life on Dantooine and the abandoned base there is far enough from the rest of civilization that complete annihilation from orbit will not result in a loss of life."

"Of course, my Lord," Captain Bolvon said.

Vader growled at that. "Don't call me that."

"What should we call you?" Bolvon asked, and Vader was completely taken off guard by the complete reasonableness of the question.

"I don't know," he said finally. "But I do not wish to be referred to as Darth Vader, my Lord, Lord Vader or anything else on those lines."

"That is all well and good, sir, but we need something to call you," Bolvon said.

He was quiet for a long time, and finally decided upon a name he could stand. "Skywalker," he said. "You may call me Skywalker," dead silence met this declaration, as his men dared not even breathe at that proclamation.

* * *

Bail felt that the first meeting had gone well with the Jedi, though it had been long, and quite tiring. A young member of the Alliance walked in. "President Mon Mothma has seen to rooms for our guests," he said.

"That's fine, Gillory," Bail said. "Would a break from talk of this be acceptable to you?" he asked Obi-Wan.

"We have nearly eight days here to hammer out the details."

"Very well," Bail said, "I think a break, and bringing in more of the leadership of the Alliance might prove fruitful."

"Agreed," Obi-Wan nodded.

"Will your pilot require accommodations?"

Obi-Wan considered. "I believe that he will be more comfortable on the _Falcon_ for the moment. There is precious cargo there he will want to keep an eye on."

"I should go check on things," Leia said, and Obi-Wan nodded.

"I'm sure you know your way around this base far better than the rest of us."

"I'll go with you," Jacen said, surprising everyone for a moment.

"Is this cargo dangerous?" Bail asked after Jacen and Leia left.

"Hardly," Obi-Wan answered. "But that is really all I can say," he continued sympathetically.

Bail sighed. "I don't think it's a good idea for you to have cargo here that needs constant checking."

"More like constant supervision," Obi-Wan said with a twinkle in his eyes. "A rest would be good though."

"Certainly, Master Kenobi," Bail said, and they followed the young man through several twisting corridors and stairwells to a fairly isolated set of rooms toward the top of the old temple.

"Here are the rooms. There is a fifth room that you could use for meditation or practice if you need," Gillory said indicating the appropriate door.

"Thank you, young man," Obi-Wan said.

"I was wondering," he said suddenly, "Are you really Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Negotiator?"

Obi-Wan smiled. "I suppose you could say that."

"Wow," he said, his eyes shining, "It's very good to meet you, sir."

"Thank you," Obi-Wan said, "Hopefully we will get an opportunity to sit and talk while I am here," he said, and indicated for Luke the room that had been set aside as their meditation room and practice area, and he followed the young man who was the hope for their future so they could discuss things privately.

* * *

Piett went through the corridors. He was worried about the former Dark Lord. Asking the crew refer to him as Skywalker, declaring openly his intention to try to fool the Emperor, it just wouldn't work. Piett was confused. If Darth Vader truly was the "Hero Without Fear", surely he'd know the danger he was putting himself in. Unless he was intent on committing suicide...but there were easier ways to do away with one's self instead of betraying the Emperor.

Thus he now found himself outside Vader's quarters. He pushed the caller and the door opened. Vader was sitting at a worktable working on something.

"Come in, Lieutenant," the foreboding baritone said.

"Yes, my...sir," Piett said, barely catching himself. He entered the spartan room and the door closed.

"I can guess why you are here, but why don't we save time and you tell me?" Vader said.

"Ummmm...yes...Are you trying to kill yourself?" Piett asked, figuring there was no real GOOD way to talk about his concerns. Vader surprised him by...laughing. In his brief time on the _Devastator_ he'd NEVER heard the Dark Lord laugh. He'd never heard a story of the the Dark Lord laughing. He, indeed until this very moment, didn't think the Dark Lord was capable of laughing.

Vader's moment of mirth ended just after a few seconds and said, "I suppose to someone on the outside looking in it would appear I was. Rest assured I do have a plan."

"So you aren't betraying the Emperor?" Piett asked.

"Oh, I very much am betraying the Emperor. Is that a problem, Lieutenant?" Vader said, the last sentence sounding much more like what Vader normally sounded like.

"Not for me it isn't. I don't agree with the Rebellion's methods, but I can't find fault with their goals. Unfortunately, I can't think of a way to effect change and a return to Senate rule without resorting to violence," he replied, not realizing that betraying the Emperor wasn't necessarily the same as restoring elective rule over the Galaxy.

"You name yourself a traitor then," Vader said.

"No more than you have," Piett responded.

"True enough, however you should be cautious. Planning to betray the Emperor isn't necessarily betraying the Empire."

"What do you mean?"

"What do you know of the Sith?" Vader asked.

"Not much, and I think that is by design. Specifically yours, as you are supposedly the Dark Lord of the Sith," Piett answered.

"I used to be. My granddaughter has changed that."

"Your...the little girl really is your granddaughter? I was unaware you had any children."

"I do, though I only recently found out they existed. Twins, a son and a daughter. Both nineteen years of age."

"Well, that's young to have a three-year-old child...but doesn't answer the question of how she came to be aboard the _Devastator_," Piett said, trying to put the deepening mystery into some order of logic, and failing, miserably.

"She won't be born for another eight years. She somehow traveled in time from twelve years in the future. A future that has seen the end of the Emperor and the rise of the New Republic."

"How is such a thing possible?"

"Through the Force many things are possible," Vader said.

"I see...so just how are you planning on "chasing Rebels" without chasing Rebels? Word will get back to the Emperor. The crew will talk, some of the command staff might decide to make a play for favor with the Emperor to turn you in. Quite frankly what you are trying to do is madness."

"You should have seen the things Obi-Wan and I did during the Clone Wars...this is downright tame compared to the stunts I pulled then." Vader said.

"You are Anakin Skywalker, Hero without Fear," Piett said with no small amount of awe.

"That is what the press called me. I don't know how true it is though."

"What do you mean?"

"That is a private matter, and I do not wish to elaborate," Vader said.

"Very well, but what are you planning if you KNOW this isn't going to work?"

"My primary concern is getting back to my family, however I also needed to know if there was anyone on this ship I could truly trust. You've taken the first steps to proving that. The next thing you have to do is kill me."

* * *

It was several hours later, and both Jacen and Leia had caught up with Obi-Wan and Luke before Bail was able to meet with them again. He knew that the majority of the Alliance would be willing to work with Obi-Wan Kenobi, perhaps even Anakin Skywalker, but Darth Vader? That was going to be a difficult sell indeed, and the fact that Anakin Skywalker was Darth Vader would be a blow that most people wouldn't be able to handle. So that information would remain in the hands of a select few, those who would trust that Obi-Wan Kenobi did indeed know Anakin or Vader well enough to believe that this change of heart was genuine. He wanted to know how, though. How had Obi-Wan changed Vader into a trusted ally?

It was with this question in mind that Bail approached the Jedi's work room. He chimed the door and waited, knowing that there was probably several of them in that room. It wasn't long before Obi-Wan appeared. "Master Kenobi, I was hoping I could have a word with you before we rejoin the meetings with the Alliance."

There was a bench in the hall, and Obi-Wan sat, and Bail sat beside him. "Certainly, what is troubling you?"

"I am a bit concerned about Leia."

"Leia is a grown adult making her own decisions, Bail. She's had several weeks to weigh the pros and cons of this decision, and while it is not the decision you would make for her, or even the one that I would make for her, it is her decision."

"Even if that's going to put her in direct contact with Vader?"

"It already has. We aren't going to get her away from him no matter how hard we try. He already knows everything. We can't get either Luke or Leia away from Anakin, and it would be detrimental to all of them if we tried, I think."

Bail sighed. "I am worried about this Solo character, though," he said, his voice betraying worry.

"Jacen?" Obi-Wan asked. Bail nodded, and Obi-Wan sighed. "I see much of my former Padawan in him. So much anger at the world, and much of it justified, in his mind at least. So much damage done to such a young mind. I'm not even sure how to go about setting him to rights, but I believe Anakin has plans for a long talk with him when we return to the _Devastator. _Otherwise, I am at a total loss as to what to do with him. Fortunately, Leia and Luke seem disinclined to take much of his attitude, and he respects both of them. But he may still prove a problem. I understand that concern, but it shouldn't be an issue. His presence here should be temporary, at the moment, though he may later join whatever passes for the Jedi Order when it is time."

"He's a fully trained Knight, doesn't that mean that he's ready?"

"No, only that he has all the training that his master could give him. The Jedi Order doesn't even exist as a practical entity right now. But when it is time, I think we will have Jacen along for the journey."

"I wish I had your confidence in his ability to turn around."

"Oh, I hold no illusions that it's going to be easy, but I think Anakin will be able to put a stop to what is going on with him. Talk him through his pain."

"If you think so," Bail said, unconvinced. "I won't interfere."

"I would appreciate that," Obi-Wan said. "When do we meet with other members of the Alliance?"

"Now, if you are ready."

"That will be fine. Are these going to be people I can tell about Anakin? I'm sorry if it sounds rude," Obi-Wan started.

"No, no. It's good that you are who you are, I suppose. There will be three levels of people, I think, those that know who Anakin is now, those who know that it's Anakin that's helping us, and those who know as little as possible. The people I've selected will be most of those for the first group, some of them already know about Anakin being Vader. I am convinced that if you believe he's turned to the good that he has, or at least is doing a very good job of acting like it, but I'm not sure if anyone else will be."

"I know that it is not an act, though I'm not sure if revealing how I know that would be particularly wise at this juncture. Perhaps if you were ready to suspend a bit of disbelief and not pass any judgments on something you were shown, I might consider a full explanation."

Bail rubbed his forehead as though he were beginning to get a headache. "This is one of those impossible through-the-Force numbers isn't it?"

"Well, yes, as a matter of fact," Obi-Wan said. "But we can worry about it later. I'm sure your people are waiting for us, and shouldn't be kept any longer."

"As you wish," Bail said, and Obi-Wan opened the door to their work room.

"Luke, Leia, Jacen, come on," he said, "We have work to do."

* * *

Piett was not comfortable with what he'd been asked to do. But he agreed that what he wanted was what Va-Skywalker wanted. And he, apparently had the power to do it. All of it, or at least some of it. It had been not more than four weeks since he'd first seen the exuberant, brown-eyed, brunette who had literally turned the ship upside down and inside out. Not more than four weeks since his fear of his commanding officer had begun to fade. Though not everyone had seen it, it was very clear that Skywalker cared deeply for Jaina. He kept her with him at all times for the first few days that she'd been seen, and rarely would he leave her after that. He'd gotten behind on paperwork, something that Piett had never seen happen for all the time that he'd been aboard the _Devastator_. Did he want to be a hero to the Empire? Why did that feel so wrong to him? Was it the duplicity in not actually killing Vader, who was now openly declaring himself a rogue agent, or was it something more fundamental?

He could have no doubts though, not if he was actually going to go through with this. And this was the best plan that Skywalker had, and it was far better than anything that he himself could come up with. So this plan it would be. There was a time for this attack, and there was a place. He just had to be there and then. and Skywalker would be there. And he would be there then. And there was only the matter of making people believe that it wasn't something that Skywalker had planned. And that he was really dead. Those points, he'd been assured, were not his problems. "Good evening, sir," he said to Skywalker as he passed him. A slight nod was all he got in return. He was standing in front of an airlock, out of the way of the training that was going on before him, over half the Stormtroopers on board were doing something or another. He'd never been actively involved with ground troops, but from his limited knowledge of history, Skywalker had been doing this since the beginning of the Clone Wars twenty-two years ago. So he would know exactly what they were doing and why. He did notice some hand-to-hand brawling, and target practice in a couple of areas, but most of it was a mass of people doing things he had no reasoning for.

He had gotten to the panel which controlled the airlock that Skywalker stood in front of. He made sure that the firearm he was carrying was set to stun. There were several reasons for this. Stun would not damage Skywalker's armor, and it was the most effective setting to provide some knock back. Skywalker had also told him that there were techniques to increase his body's resistance to the stun, though the blasts could still be effective if someone who knew these techniques were to be caught unaware, though that would be a fairly rare occurrence, Skywalker did say he knew of instances that it had happened. But he would be ready, and he would also help by ensuring that the knock back was a bit more forceful. Piett didn't ask how. But now was the time.

He took a breath, pressed the release on the door, then, raising his blaster, he fired off a bolt. The stun bolt hit Skywalker squarely in the chest, and knocked him back into the air lock. He quickly closed the door, and began the cycle to vent the compartment to space. Most of the troopers were looking at him, stunned, and he was aware that he had a part to play in this. He was going to be the only person, for a while at least, who would know that Vader had transport waiting for them to leave, and that he could survive for far longer than anyone would suppose he could on the limited supply of air his suit provided.

"What is the meaning of this, Piett?" Captain Bolvon asked.

"He has betrayed the Empire. He planned on trying to convince the whole of the Empire that the Rebels were far more powerful than they really are, that he was killing far more than he really was, and that they were being replaced at an alarmingly fast rate. He was planning to tear the Empire apart, Captain. Surely you see that?"

"We all agreed that we would stand along side him. Even you."

"What else could I say? The implications were clear. Agree or die. But even if we had gone on with his plans, we would have been dead. The Emperor would have found out, and he would have sent the Death Star after us. Vaporized us where we stood. He wouldn't have cared who agreed or disagreed with Vader, just that we had been aboard the ship."

The more long range thoughts filtered through the man's head for a few moments, and he realized how incredibly insane the plan had been in the first place. He nodded. "So he's dead now?"

"Or soon will be. We should return to the Death Star, and soon if possible, because there is no telling what sort of sorcerer's trick he might have been hiding from us. He might very well be able to get back into the ship somehow."

"That's a point. I'll call Wermis, and see if we can hit sublights and get a visual that he's still out there, then we can head back to the Death Star. The Emperor will be none too happy with us, I don't think."

"That is for the Emperor to decide," Piett said, hoping that Skywalker knew what he was doing, and hoping that he knew the Emperor well enough to judge his appreciation of this event. He really had no way of knowing whether Vader would live or die at that point, though it was more likely that he would live. There was always a way, but doubt could be his ally in this. Even Skywalker had said as much, and he and the Captain headed to the bridge as the Star Destroyer moved off, away from the body of her commander before the Emperor until this day.

* * *

"Report," Bolvon barked as he exited the turbolift, Piett a half step behind him.

"We've moved off half a kilometer," Wermis said, "And we've turned about. A full sensor sweep of the area indicates a body," he pointed to the appropriate sensor data, "But there are no life-signs we can detect. There are some electronic signatures, but the man was a walking machine with a human heart. And there's doubt about that part."

Piett himself had no doubts as to the veracity of the claim that Vader was human, though he'd never seen evidence of it himself, at least not direct evidence. Jaina was proof enough for him, both of the heart and the humanity. But he kept quiet, just watching and listening. "Well, then, if he's already dead, we should report that back to the Emperor," Bolvon said.

"Right you are, Captain," Wermis told him.

"I'll leave you to your duties, then, Captain Wermis," Bolvon told him, and he went back to his troops.

"What have you got to say for yourself?" the Captain asked Piett.

"That I don't regret having put him out of the airlock. He was going to get all of us killed, sir."

"I don't know right now whether to write you up or pin a medal on your chest."

"Please let me know when you decide. I will return to my duties in the meantime."

Wermis waved him off, dismissing him entirely as he thought through this new problem.

* * *

Han was working on the engines while Jaina was supposed to be taking a nap when he heard the ramp lowering. He sighed, hoping she hadn't decided to go take a look around Yavin IV, and pulled himself out of the engine compartment. "Daddy, someone's coming," he heard Jaina's gleeful shout as soon as his head popped up.

"Aren't you supposed to be taking a nap?" he asked her, and she looked at him with wide-eyed innocence.

"I can't sleep. 'Sides, there's someone coming," she told him, and he picked up a rag to wipe his hands off with.

He didn't even try to argue with her logic, simply asking, "Well, do you know who?"

She scrunched up her nose, feeling out with the Force, he supposed, "Unca Luke. And Mommy. And Master Kenobi. And Old Jace. Other people."

"Go to your room then, and if the other people are okay to meet you, someone will come and get you."

She frowned at him. "Promise, Daddy?"

"I promise. Now scoot," he said, hoping that she would go to sleep while she was waiting, but he doubted it. By the time she was back in her cabin, and he was in the lounge, the ramp had fully descended and he saw the four Jedi and one of the people who had been there to greet them. He was an older man with graying hair, and well-groomed. There were a couple of guards with them, but they stayed at the base of the ramp.

"Good afternoon, Captian Solo," Kenobi, the old Jedi said.

"Afternoon. Who's this?"

"Ah, yes," he said, turning to the man, "Bail Organa, this is Han Solo of the House of Solo of Corellia, as we previously discussed."

"A pleasure," Han said, extending his freshly cleaned hand. Bail took it, shaking it firmly.

"Captain Solo, this is Bail Organa, Viceroy of Alderaan."

"It is good to meet someone from the House of Solo. I had heard that all the heirs of that house died."

"Most," Han said. "I have a cousin, and then there's Jacen, who isn't supposed to be talking about his family history."

Jacen rolled his eyes behind the Viceroy's back. "We haven't told him that yet, but Obi-Wan wants to."

He glanced over at Leia, and she looked down, then back up at him. "I think Dad can handle it."

He sat down. "Well, I'll get Jaya then. She's supposed to be taking a nap, you know."

"Don't worry," Obi-Wan said, "I can ensure that she takes her nap."

Han just shook his head, and opened Jaina's door. She had been waiting, since she propelled herself into his arms as soon as the door was all the way open. "Daddy," she proclaimed, and he settled her on his hip.

She snuggled into his shoulder, having been more receptive to the attention of her parents since they had departed from the _Devastator _two days earlier. She had been tearful, but everyone had stuck to their guns. No, she could not stay with Vader. Yes, they would be back with his ship in two weeks-ten days. Everyone would help her keep track, and no they wouldn't fudge the days. Jaina had accepted it, finally. The idea that Vader was facing the Emperor had apparently scared her quite a bit. The Emperor was for her what slice hounds had been for him in his youth. Not something to be taken lightly. She was unusually quiet as he carried her the short distance back to the lounge, and he settled back into a chair, and watched, amused as she looked the Viceroy over carefully.

"What have we here?" Bail asked.

"I'm Jaya," she declared. "I'm gonna be a Jedi."

"That's good to know."

"Granda says I will be a great Jedi someday."

"And who is your grandfather?"

She frowned, then looked up at Han. "Daddy?"

"He's your grandfather."

Leia giggled. Jaina frowned. "It's not funny, Mommy."

Bail got a strange look on his face. "What's going on?"

"Well, Bail, I did ask that you be able to suspend your disbelief for a bit," Obi-Wan said.

"Perhaps, I should explain," Jacen said.

"Well, I suppose you might have a better perspective, Jacen," Obi-Wan said.

Jacen sighed. "Yesterday, by the way that I mark time, was the Battle of Yavin, but Jaina changed that. She came back in time to three weeks ago. If things had been left to run their own course, the Death star would have been destroyed over Yavin, but only after it had caused the planet of Alderaan to become an asteroid field."

"But what about Jaina?"

"In eight years, after many trials and journeys together, Han Solo fell in love with Leia Organa and asked her to marry him. I won't go into details, for a variety of reasons. Two years later, they had Jaina."

"And Jace," Jaina reminded him.

Jacen sighed. "And me."

"Wait," Bail said, "Are you saying that you are Leia's son? You're older than she is."

"I know, Grandpa," he said. "But have you tried to argue with Mom? I don't recommend it. She's very good at arguing her point."

"I taught her," Bail said, "But I can't take all the credit. She is the daughter of one of the greatest supporters of democracy in the Republic."

"I know about being the daughter of Padmé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker, Dad," Leia said.

"I had rather caught on to that aspect of this conversation," he said with a smile.

Jaina, in the meantime, had crawled out of Han's lap and had presented herself at Bail's side. "Are you Grandpa?"

"I suppose I am," he said, and she extended her arms to him, and he picked her up.

"Granda says he loves me best," she told him. "Do you love me, Grandpa?"

"I have only just met you," he said, and he looked into her eyes, so like her mother's eyes, and he believed. "But I suppose you are adorable," he smiled at her.

"Mommy and Auntie Winter tell me about you, but I thought you were dead," she told him.

"Well, not yet, and apparently I have you to thank for that," he said.

She looked over at Jace. "See Jace," she said. "I'm making things better. Granda AND Grandpa are here."

Jace sighed, and found himself unable to bring himself to challenge the logic of the three year old.


	15. Chapter 15

Anakin Skywalker drifted in a trance that slowed his vital signs down so they would not be picked up by the ship's sensors. They weren't really equipped for picking up single life signs, but if the sensors were adjusted correctly, they could pick him up even in this state. Though it was doubtful that any of them knew either that such a state was possible or how to calibrate the sensors to detect such a subtle thing as a heartbeat of less than 50 a minute. He could actually depress his vital signs a great deal more, but wouldn't be able to stay conscious during that.

Piett was supposed to be dropping his shuttle out of the ship, just before they went into hyperspace. It was going to be a long wait though. It would have been even longer if he didn't have the Force, as it would have been nearly impossible to move toward the shuttle, but it was merely a small inconvenience for him.

* * *

Jacen was starting to realize why his father had never really bothered replacing the _Falcon. _The constant repairs required were an excellent excuse for not dealing with people. Since learning that he was Jace's grandfather, Bail Organa had proven to be a source of much consternation to Jacen. He was actually a likable person, and Jace had yet to find a reason to dislike him, which inherently made him suspicious, so Jace had decided to retreat and think. His presence was proving a distraction for Leia at the negotiations table-he realized that, and had offered to work with his father for an afternoon while she did the majority of negotiations on a particular point with some members of the Alliance. Jacen disliked politics almost as much as his biological grandfather did.

He nearly punched a wall in frustration, as he realized all anyone was seeing in him was how much he was like Anakin Skywalker, and where that had led previously. He knew how much the dark side had cost his family, and he wasn't about to tread that path. Maybe he could talk with him about it when they returned. Until his brother had died, Anakin Solo had been the family's shining star, some people thinking that because he bore that name that he was their grandfather incarnate. Uncle Luke had not, and he'd tried to make other people see Anakin the way that he did-a very talented young man from a very talented family, but Anakin's abilities were close to what their grandfather's were. He was the hope of an entire generation, and it had finally crushed him.

Myrkr had been one of the Jedi's most costly victories against the Yuuzhan Vong, but the war hadn't yet started. Perhaps he could give them enough information about the Yuuzhan Vong to keep the war from getting to the point where the Mission to Myrkr was the only way to stop the advance. It hadn't helped, any more than any other mission had. The attack on Myrkr hadn't stopped the invasion of Coruscant, nor the destruction of trillions of lives because of it, all it had done was stop the Vong from using one of their creations. Though the destruction of voxyn had possibly been worth it. Hard to say without Anakin around.

Perhaps they could find Zonama Sekot before the war started, and convince them of what was going to happen. The war didn't start for twenty-five years, perhaps in that time it would be possible to make the galaxy uninhabitable for the Yuuzhan Vong. There was always hope. Perhaps Jania was right. Perhaps this could be better. Maybe his grandfather was right. He shook his head. He didn't know who he was anymore. So much had happened in the four years since Anakin's death, so much had changed. But hope glimmered in his heart for the first time in years. Could he prevent the deaths of so many? Chewie, Anakin, Ikrit, Eryl, Bela, Jovan, Ulaha, Lar Le'ung, Krasov. He'd stopped remembering names after his capture. He'd stopped feeling after his capture and torture. He'd never really told his parents what had happened; he'd hidden it. But now, confronted with his family, with his ever-hopeful sister in three-year-old form, untouched by the tragedies that had befallen the family, he couldn't stop himself from feeling. He couldn't stop the hope, no matter how he'd tried to crush it, and that made him feel worse than he had since Anakin's death.

But maybe Vergere was right. There was no dark side, no light side, only what was on the inside of a person. But a person could truly be evil. Did it really matter if the darkness came from within or without if the darkness was there? His memory flashed to the day he had escaped the Yuuzhan Vong. _'We've both been dead a long time, Ganner,'_ he had told a fellow Jedi, _'And today...Today is the day we stop breathing.'_ He hadn't though. He'd kept going, even if Ganner hadn't. But something had died within him with his brother. Anakin was gone and some indefinable part of himself had left with him. "Anakin," he whispered to himself. "Jaya's right. She's saving all three of us this time. She may be the Sword of the Jedi, but that doesn't mean she is in this alone."

* * *

Piett performed the last duty that he had to Commander Skywalker before they reported his "death" and he ceased to be a concern of the Empire. It had been difficult to ensure that everything went smoothly, but with some pointers from the self-same Commander, he'd managed it. The exterior sensors were pointed away or on loop tracks; and the docking bay sensors had been jammed to report Vader's personal craft on board regardless of its actual status, and he would be personally responsible for making sure that no one knew that it was gone. A bit of subterfuge would keep the Empire unaware of the fact.

"We have entered hyperspace, sir," the man at the con told the captain.

Piett listened, strangely detached. He had done what was required. _A New Republic._ Sooner than he could have imagined. In their lifetimes at the very least. He listened to the various reports coming in with little attention. His presence was not necessary, but he did not have any other obligations to keep him from it, and this was the most interesting place he could be. Besides, he had the impression that if he pushed at Captain Wermis enough, the man would make his decision as to what to do with the shocking turn of events and Vader's "death."

* * *

Traveling through space was one of Anakin's most basic skills. Usually. Because he was usually in a ship. It took him a few tries to work out the mechanics of traveling in space _without_ a ship. It came down to Force-pulling the ship toward him and Force-pushing himself at the same time. Once he was in his ship, with the coordinates to Alderaan programmed into the Nav computer, he knew that it was time. It was time to divorce himself from the Dark Side, and to try to re-find himself in the Light Side. He set up an automated responder beacon for when he would arrive at the planet, because he didn't know if or when he would wake from his trance. But he knew that he could no longer maintain his connection to the Dark Side. Besides it taking a toll on his body, as he was just beginning to realize it was doing, if he was going to join his children on their endeavor, he couldn't do that in his present state. Also, the Dark Side kept him in contact with the Emperor, and if he was "dead" that would be rather awkward to explain. He'd done a great deal of cleansing just having contact with Jaya; this would simply be completing the process. Once everything was set up, he pressed the lever to put the ship into hyperspace, and released himself to the will of the Force.

* * *

Obi-Wan looked up in startlement as he felt something wrench through the Force, and it was agonizingly painful. He wasn't sure exactly what had happened, but he knew that it concerned Anakin. He realized that he hadn't truly thought of his brother as his brother in the last 19 years, ever since the twins had been born, and that part of himself that he'd locked away as too painful to handle suddenly came undone. He swallowed. Anakin had released his connection to the Dark Side and it had cost him. He couldn't trace the old training bond and get a response, so he wasn't sure exactly how much it had cost him. The only thing to be done was to wait.

"Obi-Wan?" Leia asked, shaking his arm. She'd apparently been trying to get his attention for a while.

"Yes, I'm sorry, what did you need?"

She bit her lip. "What was that?"

"Anakin releasing the darkness within him."

"That was that second plan that the two of you wouldn't discuss with us, wasn't it?"

"It was. If he saw an opportunity, he wanted to come here and give us some time. The only real issue with that is the problem of the Death Star."

"Which we still have to resolve," Leia said. "The weaknesses that our technical analysts have come up with are small, almost too small to be of use."

"That depends on what they are, Princess."

She sighed. "There is a two meter wide hole in the side that goes all the way to the reactor core, but I know of no pilot who is good enough to hit a shot like that straight on and it get through without scraping the sides, which would reduce the vent port to so much rubble, and make it totally useless for another attepmt."

"Anakin could hit that. With training, either you or Luke could as well. I don't think these old hands are quite steady enough to do the work on that tight of a mission."

"How long do you think it would take to teach me or Luke?"

"A few days. It would be more instinctual than anything, but you would have to learn to trust your gut completely."

"I hope Father is alright."

"I hope so as well. I cannot tell from this distance if his unresponsiveness is due to death or unconsciousness, though I rather think the latter; this did not have the feeling of finality that I have learned accompanies the death of one who is attuned to the Force."

* * *

Bail Organa was not really sure what to make of the ship that was incoming. It was the middle of the night, and there were few up, but Traffic Control was always manned. The ship was coming in squawking an automated distress code, but it wasn't a standard one. There was some sort of code embedded in the code, but his decoders couldn't figure it out. What was worse was that it looked like an Imperial fighter, though most of those didn't have any sort of hyperdrive.

A pair of small feet padded into the room. He didn't know how it was that the three year old had gotten halfway across the city, but she had. "Grandpa," she said sleepily, putting her tiny hand in his, and rubbing her eyes with the other one.

"How did you get here?" he asked her quietly.

"I snuck into your speeder before you left," she told him unrepentantly. "Granda is coming," she said quietly. "I think he's sick."

Bail nodded. It made sense that the ship that was coming in would be _that_ ship. "I'll take care of it," he promised her. "Let the ship land. No one is to go near it. I will have a special team go out and take care of it," he told the Traffic Controller, then he strode out of the room with Jaina at his side.

"I think it's time to go home now," she said sadly. "I miss Anakin terribly, and Jace isn't right now, either."

"I know that is a hard decision," Bail said. From what Jacen had told them, it would be a number of years before the twins were born. But knowing them beforehand had softened a lot of the hard feelings that he had toward Vader. It did no good for him to hold onto resentments from the past when it was obvious that he was going to have to work with him. And that he was going be included as family-not by him, but by his daughter, and his granddaughter.

"I hope you will be there when we go," she continued. "But I want to see Granda before I leave."

"Why this sudden change of heart, my dear?"

"I am afraid. I'm losing my memory of what it was like to live with my brothers and Auntie Winter."

"Maybe it will be different this time."

She shrugged. "I don't know," she told him quietly as they got to Bail's speeder. She was uncharacteristically silent on the trip, and Bail called to the palace telling them to get the Jedi out to the Palace landing pad, where Traffic Control had directed the ship. He kept glancing at her sideways, and while she was wide awake, there was a difference from the way she'd been before.

They landed quietly near the ship, which had already landed. It was a Lambda-class shuttle with some obvious modifications. The number stenciled on the side was _ST 321_, and the ramp had not been let down. "I don't know if we can get into that without harming the ship."

"Master Obi-Wan can," she said quietly. "I didn't mean for Granda to get hurt," she said, tears welling in her eyes.

"I think on the whole you've done more good than harm," he told her gently. "And I don't think that Anakin will mind this part, considering the other possible outcomes."

Jaina nodded, and climbed into his lap. He wished he could tell her for sure that everything would be fine, but she was too smart and sensitive for him to lie to her, no matter how comforting it would be to both of them right now. Another speeder landed, and Leia hopped out before it settled completely. "Jaina," she cried, rushing over to them. "I didn't know where you'd gone, you had me worried."

"I'm sorry, Mommy."

"It's ok, I don't mind that you were with Dad, but tell me next time you leave the building?"

"Yes, Mommy."

"What's wrong, Jaina?"

"I want to go home."

"Why?" Leia asked, her heart torn. She knew that Jaina needed to at some point go home, but she didn't really want to let her go.

"I didn't mean for Granda to get hurt. I love him."

"Sweetie, it's ok. You didn't do this."

"Yes, I did. This is my fault. It wouldn't have happened if I wasn't here."

"Yes, but no one would be standing on this planet if you hadn't come here."

Jaina gulped. "I didn't think of that. I love Grandpa, too."

"Hopefully this is just a temporary illness, Jaina," Bail told her encouragingly. "I think we can go see how the others are coming with unlocking the door."

"Ok, Grandpa," she said and they headed over to the Lambda shuttle. In that time someone had managed to do something to open the ramp, and it was about to touch the ground as they caught up to the others.

* * *

In the Imperial Throne room of the _Death Star_, Palpatine sat awaiting the arrival of Darth Vader and the _Devastator,_ when he felt a rending of the Dark Side, if not his apprentice's actual death, something close to it. He immediately attempted to comm the _Devastator, _but it was no use; they were in hyperspace. He reached out through the Force, but could not find his apprentice. There had been no warning, no notice that they were going into battle, no evidence that it would be needed. There was no reason for this, at least not in his ability to discern. He immediately retreated to his meditation chamber and left instructions for him to be disturbed only when the _Devastator _docked.


End file.
